MetaClean for Windows

Or the portable zip (100 MB, runs without installing).
SHA-256 7a0517e0d7f85dec227a6293be1961cdc703049c976766df012d693bc66a9345

Both downloads contain everything MetaClean needs and a README.txt with these steps.

Install script: double-click Install-MetaClean.cmd to download and run the MetaClean installer. It installs into Program Files and adds a Desktop icon and a Start menu icon. Windows asks for permission once. It removes nothing.

Install

1. Download MetaClean-Setup-1.0.1.exe and double-click it.
2. Windows SmartScreen will probably say it protected your PC, because the installer isn't code-signed. Click More info, then Run anyway.
3. Windows asks for permission to install; click Yes. Click through the installer. It installs into C:\Program Files\MetaClean and adds a MetaClean icon on the Desktop and in the Start menu.
4. Start it from the Start menu or the desktop shortcut.

Updating: close MetaClean, then run the newer installer over the old copy. Your saved details stay.

Removing: Windows Settings, Apps, MetaClean, Uninstall (or the Uninstall shortcut in its Start menu folder). Your saved details stay in %APPDATA%\MetaClean until you delete that folder.

Had version 1.0.0? It installed into your user folder. Version 1.0.1 installs into Program Files next to it; uninstall the old copy from Windows Settings, Apps, if you no longer want it. Your saved details are shared by both.

Portable copy instead

The zip runs without installing. Right-click it, choose Extract All, and extract the whole zip (don't run it from inside the zip viewer). Then double-click MetaClean.exe in the extracted MetaClean folder. If SmartScreen warns, click More info, then Run anyway. Keep the folder together, since the tools folder inside holds ExifTool and FFmpeg. If Windows blocks the extracted files, open PowerShell in that folder and run Get-ChildItem -Recurse | Unblock-File.

How to use it

1. Input folder: the folder holding your files. Tick Include subfolders to take everything below it too.
2. Output folder: where the cleaned copies go, in the same folder layout. Your originals are never changed.
3. Pick what to do:
   • Remove everything: camera make, model and serial number, GPS, names, software, dates, comments, editing history and content credentials (C2PA).
   • Remove location only: GPS, place names and the small preview picture inside photos, which can show the uncropped original. Camera details stay.
   • Remove everything, then add my details: cleans each file, then writes your title (or each file's name), author, copyright line, website, description and keywords. It remembers what you typed.
4. Click Run.

Every finished file is read back and checked. Green means clean. Orange means something personal is still in it, and the log says what. Red means location data is still there or the file could not be written. A report spreadsheet goes into the output folder with one line per file.

What it handles

What it needs

• Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
• About 250 MB of disk space, plus room for the cleaned copies.
• Nothing else. Everything is included: ExifTool for images, FFmpeg for audio and video, and the Python runtime. No account, no internet connection, nothing is uploaded.

For scripts

MetaClean also runs without its window, using the details you last saved in it:

MetaClean.exe --batch "C:\path\to\input" "C:\path\to\output" all

The last word is all, location or all_add. The report spreadsheet is written to the output folder, and the exit code is 1 if any file failed.