Remove Extra Text and EXIF Metadata From a PNG
Choose the PNG, select maximum compatible cleanup and download the new copy. The tool removes standard text, EXIF and modification-time chunks plus unknown ancillary chunks, but leaves IDAT image data, transparency, colour management, physical pixel size and APNG animation chunks in their original order and byte form.
A PNG or JPEG up to 50 MB. The file structure is cleaned directly; the image is never decoded, recompressed or uploaded.
Results are provided as-is, with no warranty of accuracy. The method and its sources are published below so you can check the working.
PNG metadata is stored in typed chunks, so known descriptive chunks can be omitted without decoding any pixels.
Each retained chunk keeps its original CRC and payload; the output differs only by complete removed chunks.
Colour profiles and animation control are retained because they affect rendering rather than merely describing the file.
How it works
How it is done
- Identify PNG by its eight-byte signature or JPEG by its start-of-image marker, then walk the file's declared chunks or marker segments.
- Omit known text, EXIF, time and comment containers. Maximum cleanup also omits unknown non-rendering ancillary or application blocks while retaining colour and animation structures.
- Copy every retained range in its original order, including PNG image-data chunks and the complete JPEG entropy-coded scan.
- Report the complete blocks and bytes omitted, then offer a separate same-format file rather than changing the selected source.
What it assumes
- The source is a structurally complete PNG or JPEG no larger than the stated 50 MB input limit.
- Personal cleanup targets known metadata containers; it cannot prove that identifying material is absent from pixels, filenames, cloud copies or an unknown retained block.
- ICC colour profiles, PNG colour information, transparency, physical pixel size and APNG animation control are retained because removing them can alter presentation.
- Retained chunk CRCs and scan bytes are copied rather than revalidated or repaired; this is a metadata cleaner, not a damaged-image recovery tool.
Common questions
Will the PNG remain lossless after metadata removal?
Yes. The compressed IDAT and fdAT payloads are copied byte for byte, so no pixel data is re-filtered or recompressed.
Which PNG chunks are removed?
The cleaner removes the standard plain, compressed and international text chunks, the EXIF chunk and the last-modification-time chunk.
Sources
The full method, worked example and every assumption behind this figure are on Image Metadata Remover.