MetaClean is a free, MIT-licensed Windows utility by ALMARFELD for inspecting and removing supported file metadata. Queue files, search metadata by category, choose Privacy Clean, Remove All Metadata or Custom, and review actual post-clean results. Cleaned copies preserve originals by default; optional replacement requires confirmation and a backup. Export CSV metadata or JSON privacy reports.
Supports JPEG, PNG, TIFF, WebP and PDF; HEIC/HEIF depends on the bundled ExifTool build. DOCX/XLSX/PPTX are inspection-only. PDF metadata writes are incremental/reversible: previous metadata may remain recoverable. This is not secure PDF sanitization or redaction.
v1.0.1: Windows 10/11 x64, portable ZIP with ExifTool 13.59. Keep exiftool/ beside MetaClean.exe. Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime is required separately; nothing installs automatically. No accounts, uploads or telemetry. The executable is not Authenticode signed.
Features
- Offline batch metadata inspection and removal; cleaned copies by default
- Searchable categorized metadata, including EXIF and GPS fields
- Privacy Clean, Remove All Metadata and Custom profiles
- Re-inspects actual cleaned output and preserves partial-failure details
- CSV metadata exports and JSON privacy reports
- PDF incremental/reversible-write warning; Office files inspection-only