Do PNG Files Have EXIF Data? What PNGs Actually Store

Quick answer: Classic EXIF is really a JPEG and TIFF construct, so most PNGs do not carry the camera EXIF block you would find in a photo. PNG can technically hold EXIF: the eXIf chunk was added to the PNG specification in 2017, and some software writes EXIF there. But far more often a PNG stores its metadata as plain text in tEXt, iTXt, or zTXt chunks, and many PNGs, especially screenshots, carry little or no metadata at all. PNG files from most sources have no GPS by default. To see exactly what a PNG holds, drop it into our free browser-based EXIF Viewer; nothing uploads. To strip whatever is there, use our EXIF Remover.

It is a fair question, because PNG is everywhere: screenshots, logos, diagrams, exported designs, AI art. People assume every image file carries the same hidden GPS-and-camera block that makes JPEG photos a privacy concern. PNG mostly does not work that way. Here is what a PNG actually stores, when it does carry metadata, and how to view or remove it.

PNG was not designed for camera EXIF

PNG was created in the mid-1990s as a lossless format for graphics, screenshots, and web images, not as a camera format. Cameras write JPEG (and raw), and the EXIF standard grew up inside JPEG and TIFF. So when PNG defined how it stores extra information, it did not adopt the EXIF block. It used its own system of chunks instead.

A PNG file is a sequence of chunks. Some are required (the pixels, the dimensions). Others are optional and hold metadata, and those optional chunks are where any "EXIF-like" information in a PNG lives.

What a PNG actually stores

Instead of one EXIF block, a PNG can carry several kinds of optional chunks:

• tEXt: uncompressed Latin-1 text, stored as keyword plus value pairs. Common keywords are Title, Author, Description, Software, Comment, Creation Time. This is the classic PNG way to stamp a caption or the name of the program that made the file.
• iTXt: international (UTF-8) text, optionally compressed. This is where modern tools write longer or non-Latin text, and where an XMP packet is usually stored when a PNG carries XMP metadata.
• zTXt: compressed Latin-1 text, the same idea as tEXt but zlib-compressed to save space.
• eXIf: the chunk added to the PNG spec in 2017 that lets a PNG embed a real EXIF block, the same structure a JPEG uses. Most everyday PNGs do not have it, but editors and converters that preserve metadata may write it.
• Color and rendering chunks: gAMA (gamma), sRGB, iCCP (embedded ICC color profile), pHYs (pixel density / DPI), and a tIME chunk for the last-modification time. These are not personal metadata, but a viewer will still report them.

So a PNG's "metadata" is mostly text chunks and color information, with EXIF only present when something deliberately wrote an eXIf chunk.

PNG vs JPEG metadata at a glance

The difference is easiest to see side by side:

	JPEG	PNG
Native metadata	EXIF block (from the camera)	tEXt / iTXt / zTXt text chunks
Carries EXIF?	Yes, by design	Only via the optional eXIf chunk
GPS location	Common in camera photos	Almost never
Camera / lens / exposure	Yes, in camera photos	Almost never
Typical use	Camera photos	Screenshots, graphics, exports

In plain terms: a JPEG straight from a phone usually tells you when, where, and with what camera. A typical PNG tells you little more than its dimensions, its color profile, and maybe which program made it. For the full background on the EXIF side of this, see what is EXIF data.

When a PNG DOES carry metadata

PNGs are not always blank. A PNG is more likely to hold useful metadata when it came from one of these:

• Exported from an editor. Save or export a PNG from Photoshop or Lightroom and the file can carry an XMP packet (in an iTXt chunk), edit history, a software tag, copyright, and sometimes a real eXIf block if the original was a photo. Design and screenshot tools often stamp at least a Software keyword.
• Some Android screenshots. Certain Android builds and screenshot apps write a software tag or device hint into PNG text chunks. This is usually a device or app name, not GPS.
• AI-generated images. Many AI image tools embed the prompt, model name, seed, and settings directly into the PNG's text chunks. Tools built around DALL-E and OpenAI images, and many open-source generators, do exactly this, so an AI PNG can quietly contain the exact prompt that produced it.

If you want to know which of these applies to a file you received, do not guess. The only reliable way is to read the actual chunks, which the viewer below does.

Do PNG screenshots have location?

Generally no. A screenshot is a capture of what was on screen, not a photo of the world, so there is no GPS reading to record, and PNG screenshots almost never carry location metadata. The one thing to watch is the pixels, not the metadata: if the screenshot visibly shows a map pin, an address, or a navigation app, the location is in the image itself, where no metadata tool can catch it. We cover this in depth in does a screenshot have metadata.

How to view a PNG's metadata in your browser

Drop the PNG into our browser-based EXIF Viewer. It reads the tEXt, iTXt, and zTXt text chunks, parses an eXIf block if one is present, shows any XMP packet, and reports the color, gamma, and density chunks. Nothing uploads; the file is parsed locally in your browser.

You will typically see dimensions, a color profile, maybe a software or comment field, and, for AI images, the embedded prompt. The GPS and camera sections will usually be empty, which confirms the PNG carries no location or camera data.

You can also check natively. On macOS, open the PNG in Preview, then Tools then Show Inspector. On Windows, right-click then Properties then Details. These native tools are lighter and will not show every chunk, so use the viewer when you need the full picture.

How to remove PNG metadata

If a PNG carries an embedded prompt, a software tag, an XMP block, or an eXIf chunk you would rather not share, strip it. Our browser-based EXIF Remover wipes the metadata chunks and downloads a clean PNG in one click. Nothing uploads.

Two reminders. First, the remover handles the metadata layer only; if the image visibly shows something private, you still need to crop or redact the pixels. Second, if you are converting a PNG to a photo format, our PNG to JPG converter lets you control whether metadata carries over to the new file.

Common questions

Does a PNG ever have GPS coordinates? Almost never. Standard PNGs from screenshots, editors, and AI tools do not write GPS. The only way a PNG would carry GPS is if a tool deliberately wrote a full eXIf block copied from a GPS-tagged source, which is rare. Check with the EXIF Viewer if you need to be sure.

Is PNG metadata the same as EXIF? Not usually. Most PNG metadata is plain text in tEXt, iTXt, or zTXt chunks, plus color and gamma data. A PNG only contains true EXIF when it has the optional eXIf chunk, which most PNGs lack.

Why does my AI-generated PNG contain text? Many AI image tools embed the prompt, model, and settings into the PNG's text chunks so the image is reproducible. If you do not want to share the prompt, strip it with the EXIF Remover before posting.

Bottom line

PNG was not built for camera EXIF. It can carry EXIF through the optional eXIf chunk added in 2017, but most PNGs instead store text metadata in tEXt, iTXt, and zTXt chunks, and many, especially screenshots, carry almost nothing and no GPS. To see exactly what a given PNG holds, use our EXIF Viewer; to clean it before sharing, use our EXIF Remover. Both run in your browser, and nothing uploads.