Remove Metadata by Image Format
"Remove EXIF data" means something a little different depending on the actual file format - the metadata containers, the compression, and even which threats are realistic to worry about all differ. Pick your format for the specifics, or just use the tool - it detects the format automatically either way.
01 JPEG
The original "remove EXIF" format - camera photos, APP-segment metadata, quantization tables, and decades of decoder history.
02 PNG
Usually a screenshot, not a camera photo - a different privacy story, plus why lossless formats are the easiest place to hide data.
03 GIF
Rarely carries GPS data - but multi-frame animation opens a structural risk most tools don't guard against at all.
04 WebP
Google's modern format - smaller files, but the same hidden-metadata questions, plus one real limitation worth knowing.
05 HEIC / iPhone
Apple's default since iOS 11 - patent-encumbered coding means this is the one format handled differently, on purpose.
06 AVIF
95%+ native browser support means this one decodes without any extra library at all - smaller than WebP, same metadata questions.
07 SVG
Not a photo format - XML that can contain real scripts. A completely different risk, handled by rasterizing to safe pixels.
08 JPEG XL
JPEG's next-generation successor - low adoption today, but the simplest exotic format to support technically, pure Rust throughout.
09 Converting between formats
Which conversions work in one step (almost all of them), and the few real exceptions - with the actual reason for each.
10 TIFF
Not a camera format - scanners and archival workflows. A different metadata risk: scanner model, operator names, IPTC publishing fields.
11 BMP
The oldest, plainest format here - uncompressed, almost no metadata standard, mostly an output/compatibility option rather than something to start with.