Ten years ago, checking a photo’s EXIF meant opening a clunky desktop program and praying the file hadn’t been stripped. Today, in 2025, you can do it in two taps on a phone or drag-and-drop in a browser without installing anything. Here are the fastest, most reliable ways people actually use right now, across every device you’re likely holding.
On Windows 11
Right-click any JPG or HEIC → Properties → Details tab. Microsoft finally cleaned this panel up in 23H2, so you now get a readable layout with aperture, shutter speed, ISO, lens model, and even the 35 mm equivalent focal length in one scroll. If GPS is present, clicking the “Remove Properties” link at the bottom is still the quickest way to nuke location data before you post.
For power users: the free, open-source ExifTool plus the drag-and-drop GUI ExifToolGUI remains unbeatable when you need to see every single tag, including MakerNotes that Windows hides.
On macOS
Preview got a quiet but massive upgrade in 2024. Open a photo → Tools → Show Inspector → hit the “i” tab → then the EXIF sub-tab. Apple now shows a beautiful breakdown with a tiny map if GPS exists. The same panel lives in Finder: right-click a file → Get Info → More Info section (click the triangle to expand). It’s shockingly complete, even listing computational photography flags from iPhone shots.
On iPhone and iPad
Open Photos app → pick an image → swipe up (or tap the info “i” circle). You instantly see date, time, file size, camera model, and full exposure triangle. Tap “Location” to jump straight to a map. For the deepest dive, tap Adjust under the time stamp if the shot was taken on device; Apple now lets you correct wrong dates without third-party apps.
Still want every obscure tag? Shortcuts has a built-in “Get EXIF from Photos” action that dumps everything into a text file in seconds.
On Android
Google Photos → select image → swipe up → Details. Clean, fast, and now includes lens used and whether Night Sight or HDR+ was active. Samsung’s Gallery app does the same but adds a tiny “Map” button if coordinates exist.
For the full raw dump, the free app Photo EXIF Editor or ExifTool (via Termux) are still the gold standard among pros.
In the browser, no install required
Just drag any image onto ExifView.net and the entire metadata panel expands instantly. Works on phones, tablets, Chromebooks, even your smart TV browser if you’re feeling ridiculous. We read HEIC, AVIF, JPEG XL, and every phone RAW format without choking. Bonus: the map preview is clickable and we never upload your file; everything runs client-side.
Cross-platform one-click tricks people actually use
- Jeffrey’s Image Metadata Viewer (still alive and still the cleanest online tool after 15 years)
- The online EXIF Viewer by PicDrop (great for batches)
- Metadata2Go (shows a timeline view if you drop multiple shots)
When social apps hide the good stuff
Instagram, WhatsApp, and Signal strip most EXIF on upload, but they don’t always strip everything. Open the received file with any method above and you’ll often still find camera model, date, and sometimes a reduced-precision location. Telegram’s “send without compression” option keeps everything intact, which is great until you realize you just sent your exact coordinates to a group chat.
The bottom line
You no longer need to be a geek to read EXIF; every major operating system now surfaces the important bits in two clicks or less. The real difference in 2025 is choosing the right tool for the job: built-in viewers for quick checks, browser tools for zero-install convenience, and ExifTool when you need to prove in court that the shot was taken with a specific lens at 1/250 s.
Next time someone claims they “shot this on film” or swears the photo was taken somewhere else, you’ll know exactly how to call their bluff in under ten seconds.