What Is EXIF Location Data in Photos?

EXIF location data is the GPS position a phone, camera or drone saves inside a photo when it takes it: latitude, longitude, often altitude, and sometimes how accurate the position was. It travels with the file, which is why a geotagged photo can show where a tree was planted, as long as nothing strips the data on the way.

To see where a set of photos was taken, drop them on our free Geotagged Photo Map. Each one appears as a pin, and the ones without a location are listed apart.

What location data does a photo store?

EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) is the standard block of information inside JPEG and HEIC photos. Its GPS section can hold:

Next to the GPS fields, DateTimeOriginal holds when the photo was taken, from the camera's own clock.

Not every device fills every field. Phones usually write position and altitude; the accuracy and direction depend on the phone and the camera app.

How do you see where a photo was taken?

For one photo, your phone or computer will show it:

• iPhone: open the photo in Photos and swipe up.
• Android: open it in Google Photos and swipe up, or tap the info button.
• Windows: right-click the file, choose Properties, then Details.
• Mac: open it in Preview and choose Tools, then Show Inspector.

For a batch, such as the photos from a planting day, use the Geotagged Photo Map. Drop the photos on the map: every photo with a location becomes a pin, with its coordinates and accuracy, and the photos with no location are counted and listed. Nothing is uploaded; it all happens in your browser.

Why does a photo have no location?

Usually for one of these reasons:

• Location was off in the camera app or the phone's settings when the photo was taken.
• The phone had no fix yet. Photos taken right after switching on, or indoors, can have no position or an old one.
• It was shared through an app that strips metadata. WhatsApp, most social networks and many email services remove EXIF data to make files smaller and protect privacy.
• It was edited or converted. Screenshots have no EXIF, and some editors and converters write a new file without it.

The last two catch field teams most often. Photos taken correctly in the field lose their location on the way to the office, because someone forwarded them over a chat app.

Can you trust a photo's location as evidence?

More than a caption, less than people assume. A geotagged photo shows that a camera was at that place, at that time, according to the phone.

The checks worth running:

• Is it inside the site? Compare the location with the site boundary, allowing for the accuracy. A photo 2 kilometres from the plot is not evidence for the plot.
• Is the date plausible? A planting photo dated before the planting started points to a wrong camera clock or a reused photo.
• How many have a location at all? A funder we work with asks planting partners for around 200 geotagged photos per report, and checking how many actually have a location, and how many fall inside the site, is a large part of reviewing them.
• Is it the same photo twice? Reused photos are easy to miss in a big folder.

None of this proves a tree was planted. It tells you which photos need a second look before they go into a report.

Do HEIC photos keep their location?

Yes. HEIC, the default format on iPhones, carries the same EXIF data as JPEG, location included, and the Geotagged Photo Map reads it.

Converting is where it gets lost. Many converters create a new image and leave the metadata behind, and our own HEIC to JPEG Converter is one of them: the JPEGs it makes have no location. Map or archive the original HEIC files first, then convert copies for apps that cannot open HEIC.

How do you keep the location when sharing photos?

• Send the original file. On WhatsApp, send photos as documents rather than as photos. Shared folders (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive) keep the original file.
• Check the share options. iPhones can remove location when sharing; tap Options at the top of the share sheet and leave Location on.
• Collect photos in the app that needs them. When a field team attaches a photo to a record in the Restoration Scope app, the app reads the photo's location from its EXIF data. If the photo has none, it uses the phone's GPS position, if it is less than a minute old, and records where the location came from.

Location accuracy matters here too: a photo's position is only as good as the phone's GPS. Our explainer on phone GPS accuracy covers what to expect in the field.