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TurnOffLocation Apps Photos & Camera

App guide

How to turn off location on photos

A photo can carry the place it was taken in three copies at once: the one you send, the original in your library, and every new photo the camera takes. Apple and Google document a different switch for each. Turning one off leaves the other two as they were.

Do they get told?Apple documents that people you share a photo with may be able to access its location metadata and learn where it was taken, and it prints separate steps for leaving location out of a share and for removing it from the photo in your library. Google documents that, apart from partner sharing, new albums, links and conversations you share do not include location details by default, and that in Google Photos you can only remove an estimated or manually added location, not one your camera wrote into the file.

Share a photo without its location

in the share sheet
Path
  1. Photos
  2. the photos
  3. Share Sheet button
  4. Options
  5. Location
  6. Off

From the vendor’s own page · iOS (current release), read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Apple Personal Safety User Guide — Manage location metadata in Photos

Do they get told?Apple documents that when photos with location metadata are shared, the people you share them with may be able to access it and learn where the photo was taken. With Location turned off in Options, Apple documents that Location Not Included is shown above the Options button. Apple documents removing the location from the photo in your library as a separate step.
Who can still see you
Off
The copy you send
The shared copy goes out without location metadata. Apple shows Location Not Included above the Options button once you turn Location off.
Still on
The original in your library
The photo in Photos keeps its location, and the Camera app keeps recording location on every new photo you take.
Still visible
What the picture shows
A street sign or a skyline places you without any data, and whoever you send it to can ask where it was taken.

Apple prints the same steps starting from the Camera app: open Camera, select the camera roll, then select the photos you want to share.

Remove a photo's location in Photos

inside the Photos app
Path
  1. Photos
  2. Albums
  3. the photo
  4. More
  5. Adjust Info
  6. Adjust Location
  7. No Location

From the vendor’s own page · iOS (current release), read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Apple Personal Safety User Guide — Manage location metadata in Photos

Do they get told?Apple documents this as removing location metadata from the photo in Photos. Apple's page does not address copies you have already shared or sent, each of which is a separate file. What it does say is that people you share a photo with may be able to access its location metadata and learn where it was taken.
Who can still see you
Off
This photo in your library
The location metadata comes off this photo, so anything you share from it afterwards carries none.
Still on
Your other photos and the Camera
Every other photo keeps the location it was taken with, and Camera keeps writing location into new ones.
Still visible
What the picture shows
A street sign or a skyline places you without any data, and copies you already sent are separate files this does not reach.

On a Mac, Apple prints Image > Location, then Hide Location or Revert to Original Location.

Stop the Camera recording location

in iPhone Settings
Path
  1. Settings
  2. Privacy & Security
  3. Location Services
  4. Camera
  5. Never

From the vendor’s own page · iOS 14 and later as named on Apple's Location Services page (dated 2026-01-14), read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Apple Personal Safety User Guide — Manage location metadata in Photos, Apple Support — Turn Location Services and GPS on or off on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Do they get told?Apple documents this as stopping location metadata collection in Camera, which reaches photos you take from now on. Photos already in your library keep the location they were taken with; Apple documents removing that separately, one photo at a time, in Photos. Apple does not document a notification for changing an app's location access.
Who can still see you
Off
New photos from the Camera app
Camera can no longer read your position, so photos you take from now on carry no location metadata.
Still on
Photos already in your library
Every photo taken before this keeps its location, and every other app keeps its own location permission.
Still visible
What the picture shows
A street sign or a skyline places you without any data, and your carrier still places the phone by cell tower.

Stop the Camera recording location

in Android Settings
Path
  1. Settings
  2. Apps
  3. Camera
  4. Permissions
  5. Location
  6. Don't allow

From the vendor’s own page · Android (current release), read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Android Help — Change app permissions on your Android phone, Google Photos Help — Change your camera location settings

Do they get told?Google documents Don't allow as meaning the app cannot use the permission, even when you're using the app. Google does not document a notification for changing an app's permission. Photos already on the phone keep the location they were taken with, and Google documents that a location your camera added cannot be edited or removed in Google Photos.
Who can still see you
Off
New photos from the Camera app
The Camera app cannot use your device's location, so photos you take from now on carry no location metadata.
Still on
Photos already on the phone
Photos taken before this keep their location, and every other app keeps the location permission you gave it.
Still visible
What the picture shows
A street sign or a skyline places you without any data, and your carrier still places the phone by cell tower.

Google's camera app has its own switch as well: open your camera's settings and turn off Save location on a Google or Pixel phone, Location tags on Samsung, Store location data on OnePlus.

Remove a photo's location in Google Photos

inside the Google Photos app
Path
  1. Google Photos
  2. the photo
  3. More
  4. Edit
  5. Remove location

From the vendor’s own page · Google Photos app, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Google Photos Help — Understand, find & edit your photos' locations (Android), Google Photos Help — How Google Photos protects your location data

Do they get told?Google documents that you can only update or remove estimated locations, and that a location your camera added cannot be edited or removed in Google Photos. Google also documents that, apart from partner sharing, new albums, links and conversations you share do not include location details by default, and that estimated locations are not shared even when you choose to include location details. Google adds that people may still be able to guess the place from landmarks in the picture.
Who can still see you
Off
The location on that item
Google Photos drops an estimated or manually added location from the photo in your library.
Still on
Locations your camera wrote in
Google says a camera-added location cannot be edited or removed here; the camera's own switch is the one that stops it.
Still visible
What the picture shows
A street sign or a skyline places you without any data, whatever the file says.

Location estimates have their own switch: tap your profile photo, then Photos settings, then Privacy, then Location options, then Estimate missing locations.

Location spoofing, fake-GPS apps and mock-location settings are outside this site on purpose. This page describes the settings the app and your phone provide, and what the vendor documents about them.

If someone is tracking you against your will, turning a setting off may not be the safest first step. Read this first.

Related

Before you tap

Question Does airplane mode turn off location? No. Airplane mode is a switch for radios: Apple's page says it "turns off all radios except for Bluetooth", and Google's says Wi-Fi and Bluetooth go off with it. Neither company's airplane-mode page mentions Location Services, GPS or location of any kind. App guide Instagram Instagram has three separate location switches, and turning one off leaves the other two on. The Instagram map at the top of your inbox decides who sees where you are, a location tag is added to one post at a time, and the app's permission in your phone's settings is a third switch that Instagram's own page calls separate from the map. App guide Messages Messages carries two different location switches on two different systems. On iPhone, Messages shares through Find My, and Apple says the person that you stop sharing with won't be notified, while Apple's Personal Safety guide adds that they may notice you've stopped. On Android, Google Messages shares through Google Location Sharing, so stopping the share there stops it for every Google app that uses it. iOS 27 · iPadOS 27 iPhone & iPad One master switch, one switch per app, and a precise-or-approximate choice underneath each. Most people want the second one. Android 17 Android Android keeps three separate switches: Use location for the whole phone, one location permission for each app, and a precise-or-approximate choice under any app you have allowed. Google documents that with device location off, emergency location services or your mobile carrier can still send your device's location to emergency responders when you call or text an emergency number.