Does Instagram keep photo metadata?

IPTC's Spring 2019 test found Instagram displayed no embedded metadata and offered no download, so no stored file could be examined. Its 2013 and 2015 tests also showed none, and in 2013 a copy saved from Instagram had its metadata stripped. We suggest not relying on metadata surviving a post.

Published October 30, 2026. Drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources linked on this page. How we write our guides.

Does Instagram strip metadata? What IPTC's tests found

IPTC's tests found that Instagram showed no embedded metadata in March 2013, late 2015 and Spring 2019, and in 2013 a copy saved from Instagram had its metadata stripped. IPTC is the standards body behind the IPTC Photo Metadata Standard; its Photo Metadata Working Group uploads an image with values in many fields to each service and checks what the service shows and what a saved copy contains. The table lists the results for Instagram.

The 2013 and 2015 results are on the Embedded Metadata Initiative's test results page, and the 2019 result is on IPTC's Social Media Sites Photo Metadata Test Results 2019. The 2019 page calls the previous round "2016", while the Embedded Metadata Initiative page dates it to late 2015. The 2019 page does not say which app version or operating system was used.

These results answer a narrower question than the headline. In 2013, Instagram allowed Save As, and the saved file had no metadata. In late 2015 and in 2019, no file could be saved or downloaded, so the testers could see only what Instagram displayed. That is why we do not write that Instagram "strips" metadata today: the tests could not look at the file Instagram stores or at a viewer's copy, and the latest IPTC test of Instagram that we cite is from Spring 2019. IPTC's 2019 page also compares other services in the same table, which we do not rank.

Does Instagram keep EXIF data? What Instagram and Meta say

None of the Instagram or Meta pages cited here states whether EXIF, IPTC or XMP fields, or GPS, are kept, shown or stripped in a posted photo. Two Meta pages touch on metadata, and neither answers the question.

• The Meta Privacy Policy (effective July 23, 2026, as shown at Instagram's privacy centre) lists "Metadata about content and messages, subject to applicable law" among the information categories Meta uses. That describes information Meta collects. It does not say what happens to the fields inside the photo file you upload.
• Meta's newsroom post of February 6, 2024, Labeling AI-Generated Images on Facebook, Instagram and Threads, says Meta is building tools to identify the "AI generated" information in the C2PA and IPTC technical standards. The post also says there are ways that people can strip out invisible markers. It does not say which IPTC fields Instagram keeps, reads or shows, and in our reading it is a statement of plans in 2024, not a description of what happens to your copyright fields.

Instagram's help page on photo resolution, in its Help Center, says a photo whose aspect ratio isn't supported will be cropped to fit a supported ratio. It is about pixels and says nothing about metadata. For what a crop does to a mark, see our guide to the Instagram watermark.

Why a visible mark matters on Instagram

This section is our advice, not Instagram's or IPTC's. In IPTC's 2019 test Instagram displayed no embedded metadata, so we would not count on a viewer being able to read your copyright notice from the file. A name in the picture, in the caption or on the profile is what viewers actually see. Embedded metadata is still worth writing for copies that go elsewhere, because some services read it (Google describes reading IPTC fields for Google Images), but treat it as a complement to a visible mark. Metadata can also go missing when a program resizes a file: in our tests, sharp and Pillow at their default options dropped every copyright field on a resize, and our guide to EXIF, IPTC and XMP has the numbers and the method. Those tests covered sharp, Pillow and our own tools; they say nothing about Instagram.

What to do before you post

These steps are our suggestions.

1. Keep your original, tagged file. Post a copy.
2. Write your creator, copyright notice and credit line into the original with the copyright metadata tool, so copies you send elsewhere can carry them. Free, no limit. Your pixels are not touched; only the metadata changes.
3. Add a visible mark that survives the crop, placed with the guidance in where to put a watermark.
4. If you are exporting from Lightroom Classic, open the Metadata section of the export dialog. Adobe's export page lists Copyright Only, Copyright & Contact Info Only, All Except Camera Raw & Camera Info and All, plus a location checkbox that keeps GPS out of the exported photo.

Location needs its own thought. Our copyright metadata tool has an option that takes the GPS position and place names out of the saved files; it is off by default. Check what a file carries with our guide to checking photo metadata, and read EXIF, IPTC and XMP explained for what each field is called.

Sources

Checked October 30, 2026.

• www.embeddedmetadata.org/social-media-test-results.php
• iptc.org/standards/photo-metadata/social-media-sites-photo-metadata-test-results-2019
• privacycenter.instagram.com/policy
• about.fb.com/news/2024/02/labeling-ai-generated-images-on-facebook-instagram-and-threads
• help.instagram.com/1631821640426723
• developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/image-license-metadata
• helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/desktop/export-photos/export-files-disk-or-cd.html