Does a Screenshot Have Metadata? iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac
· 6 min read · BrowserConvert Team
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Yes, but much less than a photo. A screenshot is a fresh image created by the operating system rather than the camera, so it doesn't record GPS location and has no lens or exposure data. Many screenshots still carry some metadata, though: usually a date and time, sometimes a time zone offset, the software or OS build that made it, or a label marking it as a screenshot. What you get depends on the device.
The quickest way to know for sure is to open the file in an EXIF viewer. Details for each platform are below.
What screenshots typically contain
| Platform | Usual format | What has been found in the file | GPS? |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone / iPad | PNG | Creation date (in XMP), a "Screenshot" comment, color profile | Not in documented examples |
| Android (stock) | PNG or JPG | Date, time and time zone offset; Software tag with the OS build number | No |
| Samsung Galaxy | JPG or PNG (setting) | Firmware build and a unique image ID reported; date and time | No |
| Windows | PNG (default) | Older JPG snips held a timestamp and the Windows user name; current PNG behavior undocumented | No |
| macOS | PNG | A "Screenshot" comment reported; date and time are in the file name | No |
This comes from published tests and user reports rather than official documentation, since none of these companies document screenshot metadata. Treat it as a guide and check your own files. It can change with an OS update.
iPhone and iPad
iPhone screenshots are saved as PNG files. In examples documented by users with ExifTool, they carry the capture date in an XMP DateCreated field, an Apple color profile, and a user comment reading "Screenshot". Apple Photos appears to use that comment to sort images into the Screenshots album. None of the examples we found included GPS coordinates.
The file is never completely bare, then: someone can usually tell when it was taken and that it's an iPhone screenshot.
Android
On stock Android, the GrapheneOS project, which builds a privacy-hardened Android, documents two things AOSP writes into every screenshot:
- a Software EXIF tag containing the full OS build string, the same one shown in Settings → About phone, which can reveal the Android version and often the device model or family;
- the local date, time and time zone offset.
The time zone matters more than it sounds. It narrows down roughly where in the world you were, even with location turned off. Samsung users in a 2026 Privacy Guides discussion also found a unique image ID and the firmware build number in Galaxy screenshots. Samsung lets you choose JPG or PNG for screenshots in its advanced settings.
Screenshots don't include GPS by default. Samsung's own community forum has a thread from users who wanted geotagged screenshots and couldn't get them.
Windows
Windows tools save screenshots as PNG by default. Win + Print Screen saves to Pictures → Screenshots, and the Snipping Tool can save PNG, JPG or GIF. We couldn't find a current, reliable test of what a modern Windows PNG screenshot contains. For JPG, a 2012 SANS Internet Storm Center analysis found that Snipping Tool screenshots held EXIF and XMP data including a timestamp and the full name of the Windows user account. That finding is old, so check a file from your own PC before assuming either way.
Windows also attaches file-system dates (created, modified) to every file. Those live in the file system, not inside the image, and usually reset when the file is copied or uploaded.
macOS
Mac screenshots are PNG files named like Screenshot 2026-10-29 at 10.15.32.png, so the date and time are in the name itself. Users report that Mac screenshots also carry a "Screenshot" comment in their metadata. As on other platforms, there's no GPS.
The bigger leak is what's on the screen
Metadata in a screenshot is usually minor next to what's in it. Notification banners, your carrier and battery level, open tabs, file names, a username in the corner, a map with your position, the clock in the status bar, the reflection in a dark window. All of that survives any metadata remover. Crop or blur before sharing. Our crop tool runs in the browser too.
On the other hand, screenshotting a photo is a crude but effective way to drop that photo's metadata. The screenshot gets new, minimal metadata instead of the original's GPS and camera details. You lose resolution and quality in the process, so stripping the original losslessly is the better way.
How to check a screenshot's metadata
- Open the EXIF Viewer and drop in the screenshot. PNG, JPG, HEIC, WebP, TIFF and AVIF are supported.
- You'll see every readable field grouped into camera, dates and image sections, plus a raw list of all fields. If there's nothing at all, it says the file has no readable metadata.
- If GPS is present (unlikely for a true screenshot), you'll get a clear warning and a map.
The file is parsed in your browser and never uploaded. For screenshots of private chats or documents, that's a reason to use a local tool and not one that uploads.
Also on the computer: Windows shows embedded fields under Properties → Details, and on a Mac, Preview's Tools → Show Inspector lists them.
How to remove it
The EXIF Remover strips EXIF, XMP and text metadata from PNG, JPG and WebP screenshots without re-encoding the image, so a screenshot of text stays perfectly sharp. Drop in up to 50 at once and download them as a zip. The color profile is kept so colors don't shift. It holds no personal data.
If you'd rather keep the date but drop the Software tag, expand the field list on a JPG and tick only the fields to keep. Per-field selection works on JPEG files. For PNG, everything is removed.
Quick answers
Can a screenshot reveal my location? Not through GPS, since screenshots don't record it. A time zone offset (Android) hints at your region, and anything visible on screen, like a map, a weather widget or a shop name, can give it away.
Can someone tell which phone took a screenshot? Sometimes. Android's Software tag often identifies the device family, and the image size matches particular screen resolutions.
Do apps strip screenshot metadata when I share? The same rules as photos apply. Normal sends on WhatsApp and posts on Instagram strip it; email and "send as file" don't. See does WhatsApp remove photo metadata.