# metadata.video > See everything inside a video: date, GPS location on a map, camera, codec, HDR and frame rate. Edit or strip metadata losslessly. Free, nothing uploaded. metadata.video is a metadata inspector that runs entirely in the browser. It reads a video, audio file or photo from the visitor’s device with its own MP4/MOV and EXIF readers, Mediabunny and MediaInfo (WebAssembly, served by the site), explains every field in plain English, and can edit or strip metadata and save a new file. MP4 and MOV are rewritten in place without touching the streams. Files are never uploaded; optional extras (OpenStreetMap tiles, a speech model from Hugging Face) are fetched only when the visitor asks. There is no account or API. ## Check a detail - [Video metadata viewer, editor and remover](https://metadata.video/): The inspector, with a how-to and answers. - [Find where a video was taken](https://metadata.video/where-was-this-video-taken): Read a video’s GPS location and see it on a map, with altitude, accuracy and country. - [Check which codec a video uses](https://metadata.video/video-codec-checker): See the video and audio codec, profile, level, bit depth, chroma and codec tag of any file. - [Check a video’s resolution](https://metadata.video/video-resolution-checker): Exact width and height, the 720p/1080p/4K label, coded vs displayed size and pixel aspect ratio. - [Check a video’s frame rate](https://metadata.video/video-frame-rate-checker): Average, minimum and maximum fps from real frame timing, with variable frame rate detection. - [Check a video’s bitrate](https://metadata.video/video-bitrate-checker): Video and audio bitrate, plus a graph of bitrate over time measured from the file’s packets. - [Check if a video is HDR](https://metadata.video/hdr-video-checker): SDR, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG or Dolby Vision, with profile, bit depth, primaries and MaxCLL explained. - [Full video file info report](https://metadata.video/video-file-info): A MediaInfo-style text report, JSON and box tree for any video, with hashes on request. - [Content Credentials (C2PA) viewer](https://metadata.video/content-credentials-viewer): Read a file’s C2PA manifest: claim generator, actions, AI assertions, ingredients and signer. - [EXIF viewer for photos](https://metadata.video/exif-viewer): See camera, exposure, date and GPS tags in a photo, with each EXIF, XMP and IPTC field explained. - [Find where a photo was taken](https://metadata.video/where-was-this-photo-taken): Read the GPS position in a photo’s EXIF data and see it on a map, without uploading it. - [Extract subtitles from a video](https://metadata.video/extract-subtitles-from-video): Save the text subtitle tracks inside an MKV or MP4 as SRT, ASS or VTT files. ## Change or clean a file - [Remove metadata from a video](https://metadata.video/remove-metadata-from-video): Strip location, device, dates, XMP and telemetry from MP4, MOV and MKV files without re-encoding. - [Remove location from a video](https://metadata.video/remove-location-from-video): Clear GPS tags and location tracks from a clip while keeping its date, camera and title. - [Edit video metadata](https://metadata.video/video-metadata-editor): Change title, date, location, camera and track fields without re-encoding the video. - [MP4 metadata editor](https://metadata.video/mp4-metadata-editor): Edit MP4 and MOV tags such as ©nam, ©day and ©xyz, plus cover art, with no re-encode. - [Check and change a video’s date](https://metadata.video/change-video-date): See when a video was recorded and fix wrong dates, time zones and 1970 defaults. - [MKV metadata editor](https://metadata.video/mkv-metadata-editor): Rename tracks, set languages and Default/Forced flags, and change the MKV title losslessly. - [Add a thumbnail to an MP4](https://metadata.video/add-thumbnail-to-mp4): Embed cover art from a frame or an image in an MP4 or MOV, with no re-encode. - [Add chapters to an MP4](https://metadata.video/add-chapters-to-mp4): Write named chapter markers into an MP4, MOV or MKV without re-encoding. - [Add 360° video metadata](https://metadata.video/360-video-metadata): Inject or remove spherical metadata in an MP4 or MOV, the browser alternative to an injector app. - [Remove metadata from a photo](https://metadata.video/remove-metadata-from-photo): Strip EXIF, GPS and XMP from JPEG, PNG, WebP and HEIC images without re-compressing them. ## Guides - [Remove location from iPhone photos and videos](https://metadata.video/remove-location-from-video-iphone): Turn off Camera location, use Adjust Location and No Location in Photos, and share without location. - [Fix “video codec not supported” errors](https://metadata.video/video-codec-not-supported): Find which stream a device can’t decode and choose between another player, an extension or a converted copy. - [What video bitrate means](https://metadata.video/what-is-video-bitrate): How bitrate links file size, length and quality, with recommended numbers and a calculator. - [HEVC vs H.264 compared](https://metadata.video/hevc-vs-h264): File size, quality, compatibility and editing compared, with the iPhone format setting explained. - [How to tell if a video is AI-generated](https://metadata.video/is-this-video-ai): Provenance, watermarks, metadata, visual tells and sources: what each check can prove. - [See video and photo metadata on iPhone](https://metadata.video/view-video-metadata-iphone): Use the Photos Info panel, then see the codec, HDR, bitrate and tags it leaves out. - [Change a video’s date on iPhone](https://metadata.video/change-video-date-iphone): Use Adjust Date & Time in Photos or Google Photos, and fix the date inside the file. - [Do apps remove video metadata?](https://metadata.video/do-apps-remove-video-metadata): What Discord, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and others say about stripping metadata, and how to test. - [What video metadata is](https://metadata.video/what-is-video-metadata): Every family of video metadata explained, with links to check or change each one. - [How to see video metadata on Android](https://metadata.video/view-video-metadata-android): Google Photos About and Samsung Gallery details, their limits, and removing location. - [How to see video metadata on Windows](https://metadata.video/view-video-metadata-windows): Properties → Details, the limits of Remove Properties for MP4, and the full view. - [How to see video metadata on a Mac](https://metadata.video/view-video-metadata-mac): Finder Get Info, QuickTime’s Movie Inspector and mdls in Terminal, compared. - [How to use ffprobe](https://metadata.video/how-to-use-ffprobe): Real ffprobe commands for streams, tags, HDR and frame counts, and ffmpeg for stripping. - [Video forensics with metadata](https://metadata.video/video-forensics): Dates, encoder tags, GOP and bitrate changes and C2PA history that reveal re-saving. ## About this site - [About](https://metadata.video/about): Why metadata.video exists, what it reads and what it promises. - [Privacy at metadata.video](https://metadata.video/privacy): Files stay on your device; every optional download listed; Google Analytics you can switch off in Cookie settings. - [Contact](https://metadata.video/contact): Where to email about a file that won’t open, a missing field, an idea or a privacy request. ## What the inspector does - **Explained, not dumped**: A one-sentence summary, a map, a timeline of dates, codec cards and HDR diagrams, with a plain-English note behind every field. - **Edit or wipe, losslessly**: Remove everything or just the location, or change the title, date and place. MP4 and MOV keep their picture and sound byte for byte. - **Read on your device**: Files are opened in your browser and never uploaded. No account, no watermark, and the inspector works on phones as well as computers. ## Inspecting a file, step by step 1. **Open a video or photo**: Drop a file on the card, press Open a file, or paste one. MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, MTS, JPEG, HEIC, PNG and WebP all open, and nothing is uploaded. 2. **Read what it reveals**: The Overview sums the file up in a sentence; Privacy lists what it gives away; Location, Date & time, Device, Video, Audio and HDR & colour explain each part with pictures. 3. **Edit & clean, then download**: In Edit & clean choose Remove all metadata or Remove location only, or change any field, then press Download new file. The new file is read back to show exactly what changed. ## Metadata questions, answered ### What metadata does a video file contain? Two kinds. Technical details describe the streams: codec, resolution, frame rate, bitrate, colour and HDR, audio channels and length. Descriptive tags say where it came from: the recording date and time zone, often a GPS position, the phone or camera model and its software, and sometimes a title, an author or editing history. Open a file above to see both, explained field by field. ### Can you tell where a video was taken from its metadata? Only if the camera stored a location and nothing removed it since. iPhones and most Android phones write GPS into videos when the camera has location access; GoPro and drone footage can carry a position for every second. Messaging and social apps usually strip it, so a clip you received or downloaded rarely has one. The Location section shows it on a map drawn on your device. ### How can I see when a video was actually recorded? Look at the dates inside the file, not the date your computer shows (that is when the copy was saved). Phones store the recording time, often with a time zone, and every MP4 or MOV has creation dates in its headers. The Date & time section lists each one on a timeline and warns about defaults such as 1 January 1970. ### Is my video uploaded anywhere? No. The file is read and rewritten in your browser. The only things that can be downloaded are tools, and only when you ask: MediaInfo and the face model come from this site, the converter for unusual containers comes from this site, and the optional speech model comes from Hugging Face. Show street map loads map tiles from OpenStreetMap. Your file is never sent to any of them. ### Does removing or editing metadata reduce quality? No. For MP4 and MOV only the metadata boxes are rewritten; the picture and sound are copied byte for byte, so it is instant even for large files. Other containers such as MKV are copied stream by stream into a new file, still without re-encoding. Photos keep their image data untouched. ### Do WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Discord remove video metadata? Most big platforms re-encode uploads and drop location and device tags, but what each keeps changes over time and differs between sending as media and as a file. The safest habit is to clean a file before you send it, or test an app yourself: send a clip to yourself and open the copy you receive here. The guide on [whether apps remove metadata](/do-apps-remove-video-metadata) walks through it. ### Why does my video show the wrong date? Usually because something rewrote it: a messaging app, an export from an editor, or a camera whose clock was never set. Dates like 1 January 1970, 1 January 2001 or 1904 mean a field was left at zero. You can [change a video’s date](/change-video-date) here, including its time zone. ### Can metadata prove a video is real or show it was made with AI? Not on its own. Tags can be stripped or typed in by anyone. Content Credentials (C2PA) are signed records that some cameras, editors and AI tools attach; the Provenance section reads what they say, and contentcredentials.org can verify the signature. A missing record proves nothing. See [how to judge whether a video is AI](/is-this-video-ai). ### Will removing metadata stop copyright or duplicate detection? No. Platforms identify videos by their picture and sound, not by tags, so a clean file is matched just the same. Removing metadata is about privacy, not about hiding where a video came from. ### Does adding a title or tags to the file help on YouTube? YouTube uses the title, description and tags you enter in YouTube Studio. Tags embedded in the file are not a documented ranking factor, so set those in Studio rather than relying on the file. ### Which formats, phones and cameras does it support? Videos in MP4, MOV, M4V, 3GP, MKV, WebM, AVI, MTS/M2TS and more, and photos in JPEG, HEIC, AVIF, PNG, WebP and TIFF. It recognises the tags iPhones, Android phones, GoPro, DJI, Samsung and pro cameras write. Editing works on MP4/MOV (losslessly, in place), on MKV, WebM and other containers (by a stream copy), and on JPEG, PNG and WebP photos. ### What is the difference between EXIF and video metadata? EXIF is the photo standard: a block of tags inside JPEG, HEIC and other image files. Videos mostly use their container’s own system instead: QuickTime and MP4 boxes, Matroska tags, and sometimes XMP. True EXIF inside a video is rare, which is why EXIF-only tools often miss a video’s location. ### Can I use it on my phone? Yes. On a phone the inspector is one long page with an Edit & clean button at the bottom. On iPhone, pick the original from Photos or save it to Files first; some share sheets hand over a copy with fewer details.