How to remove location from photos on Xiaomi: the complete guide

Xiaomi smartphones automatically save the coordinates of shooting in metadata photos (EXIF), If you have geotagged, it's convenient for sorting images by location, but it creates privacy risks: when you post on social media or messengers, you can unwittingly reveal your exact location. This is especially true for Redmi Note 12 Pro models.+, Xiaomi 13 Ultra or POCO F5, where the camera is recording by default GPS-data.

In this article, we will analyze all ways to remove geolocation from built-in tools. MIUI Up to third-party apps and manual editing EXIF. You’ll learn how to massively clear coordinates from dozens of photos at a time, why some methods don’t work on older firmware versions, and how to check if there’s hidden data left in the file after processing. And the only reliable way to ensure that all metadata is removed without the possibility of recovery.

Why Xiaomi keeps geolocation in photos and how it is dangerous

Geotaggs feature activated by default on most Xiaomi devices with firmware MIUI 12+. She's using the data. GPS, Wi-Fi and mobile towers to determine the coordinates to 5 to 50 meters. EXIF-File – an invisible part of the image that can be read by special programs or even through a standard Windows viewer.

The dangers of public geotags:

• 📍 Criminals can track your home, place of work or travel routes from photos in social networks.
• 🕵️‍♂️ Advertising algorithms use geodata for targeted advertising (even if you have disabled location access in app settings).
• 🏠 Landlords or employers can verify your real location through metadata photos in resumes or ads.

Example: if you take a photo of documents (passport, license) on Xiaomi 12T Pro and upload them to the cloud, an attacker will not only see personal data, but also find out the address of your house by the coordinates of the shooting. 10A, POCO M5), where the geotagging function is enabled out of the box without notification.

Method 1: Disable geolocation saving in Xiaomi camera settings

The simplest method is to prevent the camera from recording coordinates during the shooting phase, which will not remove geotags from the photos already taken, but will prevent them from appearing in new images. MIUI 13/14 and all models Xiaomi/Redmi/POCO after 2019 year-end.

How to turn it off:

1. Open the Camera app.
2. Touch the gears. ⚙️ in the upper right corner (or swipe from the right edge of the screen).
3. Go to the Camera Settings section → Additionally.
4. Find the Save Location (or Geotega) option and move the slider to the "Off" position.

On some devices (for example, Xiaomi 11 Lite) NE 5G) The path may be different: Settings → General. → Location. If the option is not in the camera menu, check the Settings section of the phone → Annexes → Permits → Camera. → Location and disable access.

⚠️ Attention: On devices with MIUI 12.5 and older, geotags can be saved even when the option in the camera is disabled if in the phone settings (Location). → Precision: High accuracy mode is on. Turn it off or translate it to Device Only.

Method 2: Remove coordinates through the Xiaomi Gallery (built-in tool)

Firmware MIUI allows you to delete geotags directly in the standard application of the Gallery, but with limitations: processing is one file, and on some models (Redmi). 9A, POCO X3 NFC) It may not be a function, but it doesn't require third-party software.

Step-by-step:

1. Open the gallery and select the photo from which to remove the location.
2. Press three points. ⋮ lower-right → Details (or Information).
3. Scroll down to Location block and click Remove (or basket icon) 🗑️).
4. Confirm the action in the dialog window.

If there is no button to delete, try:

• 📱 Update the Gallery via Google Play (sometimes the feature appears after the update).
• 🔄 Reboot your phone on Xiaomi 12S Ultra is known for a bug where an option goes missing after prolonged use.
• 📁 Transfer the photo to another location (for example, to a memory card) and try again.

💡

If you want to remove geotags from multiple photos, create an album in the Gallery, add pictures there, and then use the option "Edit information" for batch processing (available on not all models).

Method 3: Mass removal of geolocation through Google Photos

Google Photos is the default app on many Xiaomi smartphones (especially global firmware versions), which allows you not only to view the coordinates on the map, but also to remove them from several pictures at once.

How to remove location:

1. Open Google Photos and select a photo/video (you can have a few while holding your finger on the screen).
2. Press three points. ⋮ → Change location.
3. In the window that opens, click Remove location → Save.

For mass processing:

• 🖼️ Highlight all photos in the album (click on the profile avatar in the upper right corner) → Choose all).
• 🌍 Use a location filter (Search) → Map to quickly find pictures from a specific location.
• ⚠️ After removing geotags, be sure to clear the cart in Google Photos, otherwise the files will remain in the cloud with the original metadata.

⚠️ Note: If you use Google Photos in Traffic Saving Mode (Settings) → Backup, geotags can be saved in compressed copies of photos. Switch to Original Quality before deleting.

Method 4: Third-party applications for removal EXIF (TOP-3)

If embedded tools MIUI We tested dozens of apps and selected the three most reliable ones for Xiaomi:

1. EXIF Eraser (No Advertising, Supports Packet Processing)

• 📌 Pros: deletes all metadata (not only coordinates), works without the Internet, supports formats JPEG, PNG, WEBP.
• 🚫 Cons: no Russian language, on MIUI 14 Permission to access files is required.
• 🔗 Reference: Google Play

2. Photo Exif Editor (For advanced users)

• 📌 Pros: allows you to edit individual fields EXIF (For example, remove only coordinates, leaving the date of shooting, supports the RAW (Xiaomi 12S Ultra).
• 🚫 Cons: complex interface, in the free version, a limit of 10 photos per day.

3. Metadata Remover (Fastest)

• 📌 Pros: removes metadata in 1-2 seconds, integration with the Xiaomi Gallery (you can open photos directly from the application).
• 🚫 Cons: No preview function EXIF.

Instructions for EXIF Eraser (recommended for most users):

1. Download and install the app from Google Play.
2. Open it and click Select Images (or Select Images in the Russified version).
3. Select the photos from which you need to remove the geolocation.
4. Press Erase. EXIF → Confirm.
5. Files will be saved in the folder. EXIF_Erased internal.

Method 5: Manual editing EXIF on PCs (100% reliability)

If you need to securely remove all traces of geolocation without recovery, use desktop software, which is suitable for processing large archives of photos (for example, before selling a phone or publishing in the public domain).

Tools required:

• 🖥️ ExifTool (free, works via command line) or Exif Viewer (with graphical interface).
• 📁 USB-Type C Cable to Connect Xiaomi to Your Computer.
• 🔌 Enabled Mode File Transfer (MTP) on the phone (Settings) → Connection and sharing → USB).

Instructions for ExifTool (Windows/macOS/Linux):

1. Download ExifTool from the official website: exiftool.org.
2. Connect Xiaomi to your PC and copy the photo to a separate folder (for example, C:\Photos\).
3. Open the Command Prompt (Win) + R → cmd) and go to the folder with ExifTool:

cd C:\exiftool\


exiftool -overwrite_original -gps:all= -n C:\Photos\*.jpg

Where:

• -overwrite_original — saves changes in the original files.
• -gps:all= — strip out GPS-data.
• -n — Disables backup (slows down the process).

To process all photos and videos in the folder (including: PNG, HEIC):

exiftool -overwrite_original -gps:all= -ext jpg -ext png -ext heic -ext mp4 C:\Photos\

💡

ExifTool is the only tool that is guaranteed to remove geotags from video (formats) MP4, MOV), Most mobile apps only work with photos.

How to check if geodata remains after deletion

Even after processing, the coordinates can be stored in a file. Here are 4 ways to verify:

1. Through the standard Xiaomi Gallery:

• Open the photo. → Details. → Scroll to the Location Block.
• If the field is empty or the inscription No data is displayed, the geotags are deleted.

Online services:

• 🌐 exif.viewer – upload a photo and check the section GPS.
• 🌐 VerExif – Shows all metadata, including hidden metadata.

Annex 3. EXIF Viewer (Android):

• Install from Google Play, open the photo and check the Location tab.
• If the coordinates are 0.0, 0.0, this means that the data is cleared.

4. Through Windows (without software):

• Right-click on the file → Properties → Detailed.
• Scroll to the section. GPS. If there are no fields, geotags are deleted.

⚠️ Note: Some messengers (such as Telegram or WhatsApp) automatically compress photos when sending, but do not delete them. EXIF. Check the metadata before publication, even after processing!

FAQ: Frequent questions about removing geolocation with photos Xiaomi