Metadata Cleaner is a desktop utility designed to inspect and remove hidden metadata from files such as images, documents, and archives.
Metadata can include sensitive information like author names, GPS coordinates, timestamps, and software details, which users may not want to disclose when sharing files. The application provides a simple graphical interface, making it easy to review and strip metadata before distribution.
It’s implemented as a GTK-based application and uses the MAT2 (Metadata Anonymisation Toolkit) backend to safely clean files without altering their visible content.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- View metadata embedded in files including images, PDFs, and office documents.
- Remove sensitive metadata such as author details, GPS coordinates, and timestamps.
- Supports cleaning multiple files and directories in a single operation.
- Preview metadata before deciding what to remove.
- Built on MAT2 to ensure safe and reliable metadata stripping.
- Simple GTK interface designed for ease of use.
- Available via Flatpak for easy installation on Linux systems.
Website: gitlab.com/metadatacleaner/metadatacleaner
Support:
Developer: Romain Vigier
License: GNU General Public License v3.0

Metadata Cleaner is written in Python. Learn Python with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Photo Metadata Editors | |
|---|---|
| Photini | Easy to use digital photograph metadata editor |
| ExifTool | CLI application and library for reading and writing meta information |
| Exiv2 | C++ library and a command line utility to manage image metadata |
| digiKam | Provides tools for viewing and editing metadata |
| jExifToolGUI | Graphical frontend to ExifTool |
| Jhead | Exif Jpeg header manipulation tool |
| Scramble | Privacy-focused image metadata removal tool |
| Phatch | Simple to use cross-platform GUI photo batch processor |
| mat2 | Remove metadata from files to improve privacy |
| Metadata Cleaner | Inspect and remove metadata from files |
| Kleaner | Clean metadata from images with a simple graphical interface |
| Metamorphosis | Inspect and change embedded metadata |
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