BriskFile

EXIF and metadata viewer

Every photo from a phone carries the date, the camera, the settings and — unless location was switched off — the coordinates it was taken at, usually to within a few metres. Drop one here and you will see exactly what it is carrying, without the file going anywhere.

Every photo carries a record of how and where it was taken — the camera, the exact second, the settings, and usually the coordinates. PDFs and Office documents carry a different kind: who wrote them, what they were called first, and which company's template they came from. Drop either below to read it, and edit the document ones. Everything is parsed on your own device; a viewer that uploads your photo in order to tell you it contains your home address rather defeats the purpose.

Nothing is uploaded. Turn off your wifi and it still works.

What the fields mean

Camera make, model and serial number. The device that took it. A serial number links every photo from that body to the same owner, which is how stolen cameras are occasionally traced — and how an anonymous photo stops being anonymous.

Taken and digitised. The moment the shutter fired, usually to the second, in the camera's local time. Cameras with a wrong clock produce confidently wrong timestamps, which is worth remembering before relying on one.

Exposure, aperture, ISO, focal length. How the photograph was made. Harmless, and the part photographers actually want to keep.

Coordinates. Where the camera was standing, usually within a few metres outdoors. This is the field that matters, and the one people are most surprised to find.

EXIF is evidence of a claim, not of a fact

Every one of these fields is just bytes in a file, and every one can be written to say anything. A timestamp proves what the camera's clock said; a location proves what its GPS reported or what somebody typed in afterwards. It is useful information and poor proof, and the difference matters whenever a photo is being used to establish when or where something happened.

Documents keep a different kind of record

A PDF or an Office file stores its properties in a form that can be rewritten rather than only deleted, so those are editable here. It is worth checking them: a CV usually carries the name of whoever's template it started as, a tender document often names the competitor it was copied from, and a PDF exported from a design tool routinely credits an employee who left years ago. Word also records how many minutes the file has been open, which is occasionally more revealing than anyone intends.

Why a file might have none

Screenshots never had any. Facebook, Instagram and X strip it on upload, so anything saved from those is already clean. Messaging apps frequently re-encode and drop it. Editing software may or may not carry it through on export. An empty result almost always means the file has been through one of those, not that the camera recorded nothing.

Questions

What does an EXIF viewer show?

Everything the file records about itself: camera make and model, the date and time to the second, exposure time, aperture, ISO, focal length, often the lens and the camera body’s serial number, the software that last saved it, and — on most phone photos — the GPS coordinates where it was taken.

How accurate is the GPS in a photo?

Typically within a few metres outdoors. That is precise enough to identify a specific building, and often a specific part of a garden. Indoors it is less reliable and can be tens of metres out, or absent.

Why does my photo have no EXIF at all?

Several things strip it. Screenshots never had any. Social platforms remove it on upload, so a photo saved from Instagram is clean. Messaging apps often re-encode and drop it. Editing software may discard it on export. An empty result usually means the file has already been through one of those.

Can EXIF be faked?

Yes, easily — every field is just bytes in a file and can be written to say anything. EXIF is useful evidence of what a camera recorded, and no evidence at all of what actually happened. Treat a timestamp or a location as a claim, not a fact.

What is the difference between EXIF, IPTC and XMP?

EXIF is written by the camera and describes the capture. IPTC is a press and stock-library standard for captions, credits and rights. XMP is Adobe’s format and usually holds editing history and keywords. A file can carry all three, and this page reports which are present.

Is my photo uploaded to read it?

No. The file is parsed by this page on your own device. A viewer that uploads your photo in order to tell you it contains your home address rather defeats the purpose.

What BriskFile will not do to you

  • Your files never leave your device

    Every conversion runs in your browser. Open DevTools, watch the Network tab, and you will see no upload — because there is not one.

  • No account, no email, no watermark

    Nothing to sign up for and nothing stamped on your images. There is no step between choosing a file and getting it back.

  • No limits at the download button

    No daily cap, no file counter, no "upgrade to download". If the tool starts a job, it finishes it.

  • Checkable, not just claimed

    Open the Network tab and convert something — nothing goes out. Or load the page, disconnect, and watch it keep working: the tool is already on your machine, and your file never leaves it.