# How to remove location from photos and videos on Android

The Android camera writes your location inside every photo and video. See how to stop it, how to remove the location from files you already have, and what Google Photos and Samsung Gallery actually change.

Source: https://metaremove.com/en/blog/remove-location-from-photos-videos-android
Published: 2026-10-27
Updated: 2026-10-27

## TL;DR

To remove location from photos on Android, turn off the camera's location setting (Save location on Pixel, Location tags on Samsung) and, for photos you already have, use Samsung Gallery's details editor or a metadata remover. Google Photos cannot erase a location recorded by the camera, and the downloaded file keeps the original GPS.

When the Android camera has location permission, every photo comes out with latitude and longitude written into its EXIF data, and every video carries the coordinates inside the MP4. To remove location from photos on Android, you need to handle two things: stop new photos from being saved with GPS, and clean the ones already on the phone.

This guide covers both on Pixel, Samsung and any other Android phone. It also explains why Google Photos cannot erase the location the camera recorded.

## How do I stop the Android camera from saving location?

Turn off the location setting inside the camera app. It only affects new photos and videos: whatever is already in your gallery keeps its coordinates.

### Pixel (Google Camera app)

1. Open the Camera app.
2. Tap Settings in the bottom left corner, then More settings.
3. Turn off Save location.

### Samsung Galaxy

1. Open Camera and tap the settings gear.
2. Turn off Location tags.

Samsung explains that, with this setting on, new photos and videos include location data in their details.

### Other brands

Google Photos Help lists the name of the setting for each manufacturer. If your phone runs in another language, the label will be translated:

| Brand | Camera setting name |
|---|---|
| Google (Pixel) | Save location |
| Samsung | Location tags |
| Motorola | Save location |
| Xiaomi | Save location info |
| OnePlus | Store location data |

### On any Android phone: remove the camera's location permission

If you cannot find the setting in the app, go to Settings > Apps > Camera > Permissions > Location and choose Don't allow. Without access to location, the camera has no way to record coordinates. Turning off location in Quick Settings also works, but it switches location off for every app at once.

## Does Google Photos remove the location from a photo?

Not when the location came from the camera. According to Google Photos Help, if a location was added automatically by your camera, you cannot update or remove it in the app.

What Google Photos can remove is an estimated location, which it infers from landmarks and the locations of your other photos, or a location you added by hand. For one photo, open it and tap More > Edit > Remove location. For several, select the photos and tap More > Edit location > Remove location.

These edits stay inside Google Photos. According to Google, they do not apply to what you share outside the app: if you download the photo and send it by email, it goes out with the original location your device recorded.

Inside Google Photos itself, new links, albums and conversations do not include location details by default. The exception is partner sharing, which includes the location of every photo.

## How do I remove location on a Samsung phone?

Samsung removes location in three ways, and only one of them changes the photo stored on the phone.

### Only in the copy you share

On One UI 3.0 or later, open Gallery, select the photos, tap Share and tick Remove location data. The person who receives them cannot see where the photo was taken. The photo in your gallery keeps its location.

### In the file itself

Open the photo, tap More options > Details > Edit, tap the red minus sign next to the location and tap Save. This removes the location from the photo stored on the phone.

### By default, with Auto Blocker

From One UI 6.1.1, Auto Blocker in Maximum restrictions mode (Settings > Security and privacy) automatically removes the location from photos before you share them. The Samsung Messages app has a similar option under Settings > More settings for the images sent through it.

In a SamMobile test on One UI 3.1, the sharing option removed only the location. The date, the device model and the other EXIF fields stayed in the copy.

## What about the location in videos recorded on Android?

Videos store the location too. In an MP4 recorded on Android, the coordinates sit in a box called ©xyz, inside moov/udta, in the ISO 6709 format (something like +40.7128-074.0060/). The Android documentation describes this format both for recording (MediaRecorder) and for reading (MediaMetadataRetriever).

The Google Photos and Samsung Gallery steps above are about photos. For a video that has already been recorded, the safe route is to clean the file. The [guide to removing GPS from a video](/en/blog/how-to-remove-gps-from-video) shows the options, and the [MP4 metadata](/en/remove-mp4-metadata) page lists each atom in the file, including ©xyz.

## Does Android hide photo location from apps?

Partly. Since Android 10, an app can only read the location stored in your photos if it has the ACCESS_MEDIA_LOCATION permission. Without it, the system hands over the image with the location hidden. The Android photo picker also removes the location by default, unless the app asks for it and you allow it.

This protection covers the apps installed on your phone. When the photo leaves the device as a file (email attachment, Google Drive, USB cable), it goes with everything inside it. Messaging apps behave differently from one another, and we gathered what each one documents in [Do WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Telegram remove metadata?](/en/blog/do-whatsapp-instagram-tiktok-telegram-remove-metadata).

## What stays in the file after you remove the location?

GPS is the most sensitive data, but it is not the only kind. An Android photo usually also carries:

- the date and time it was taken;
- the make and model of the device;
- lens and exposure data;
- the software or camera app version.

In video, the MP4 also records creation dates and keys with the device manufacturer and model (com.android.manufacturer and com.android.model).

If you want to send a photo without revealing when it was taken and with which phone, the [photo EXIF and GPS guide](/en/blog/remove-photo-exif-gps-guide) explains each field, and the article on [what video metadata reveals](/en/blog/what-video-metadata-reveals) does the same for videos.

## How do I check that the location is gone?

Open the photo in the [free EXIF viewer](/en/exif-viewer). It reads the file in your browser, without sending anything to a server. If no latitude, longitude or altitude shows up, the location is gone. For videos, use the [video metadata checker](/en/video-metadata-checker).

Test the copy you are going to send, not the original in your gallery. If it still has GPS, date and device data and you want to remove everything at once, MetaRemove cleans photos and videos in the browser: checking is free, and full cleaning is part of the plans.

On iPhone, the process is different. See [how to remove location from iPhone photos and videos](/en/remove-location-from-iphone-photos).

## Frequently asked questions about location in Android photos

### Does turning off location erase the GPS from old photos?

No. The camera setting and the location permission apply to new photos and videos. Photos already in your gallery keep the coordinates they were saved with. For those, use Samsung Gallery's details editor, which changes the file itself, or a metadata remover, and check the result in an EXIF viewer.

### Why can't I remove the location of a photo in Google Photos?

Because the location came from the camera. Google Photos Help says a location added automatically by the camera cannot be updated or removed in the app. You can only remove estimated locations or ones you added by hand, and that change does not apply to the file you download and send.

### Do videos recorded on a phone store the location?

Yes, when the camera has location permission. In an MP4 recorded on Android, the coordinates sit in the ©xyz box, in the ISO 6709 format. The file also carries the recording dates and the device model. Check it with a video metadata checker before you send the original file.

### Does WhatsApp remove the location from photos?

WhatsApp does not publish a list of what it removes from files, and the result depends on how you send. We gathered what each app documents in [Do WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Telegram remove metadata?](/en/blog/do-whatsapp-instagram-tiktok-telegram-remove-metadata). To avoid depending on the app, remove the location before sending and check the copy.

### How can I tell if a photo has location data?

Open the photo in an EXIF viewer and look for the GPS fields: latitude, longitude and altitude. The Google Photos info panel also shows a location, but it may have been estimated by Google Photos itself and not be stored in the file. The viewer shows only what is inside the photo.

## References

- [Pixel Camera Help: turn off location stamps for photos and videos](https://support.google.com/pixelcamera/answer/2838995?hl=en)
- [Google Photos Help: edit or remove the location of photos and videos](https://support.google.com/photos/answer/6153599?hl=en)
- [Google Photos Help: camera location setting for each manufacturer](https://support.google.com/photos/answer/9921876?hl=en)
- [Samsung: removing location data from photos in the Gallery](https://www.samsung.com/nz/support/mobile-devices/removing-location-data-from-photos-in-the-gallery/)
- [Android Developers: access media files and photo location](https://developer.android.com/training/data-storage/shared/media)
- [Android Developers: MediaRecorder.setLocation and the ISO 6709 format](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/media/MediaRecorder)