Does Video Have Metadata? What Your MP4 or MOV Reveals

Quick answer: Yes. A video file carries metadata just like a photo does: the recording date and time, the device make and model, technical details like resolution and codecs, and, for phone videos with location enabled, GPS coordinates of where it was filmed. iPhone MOV/MP4 files are especially rich, storing location and device info in QuickTime metadata keys. You can see it with your phone's info panel, Windows file Properties, or the free MediaInfo app. And if you share videos publicly, the location part deserves the same caution as photo EXIF.

Most people know photos contain EXIF data. Fewer realize their videos are just as talkative. Here is exactly what a video file knows about you, how to read it, and how to strip it before sharing.

What is inside a video file

A video container (MP4 on most devices, MOV on iPhone) stores several layers of information alongside the actual footage:

• Recording date and time. Written when the recording ends. The standard container field is stored in UTC; iPhones additionally store the local time with timezone. More on reading it in how to tell when a video was taken.
• GPS location. Phone videos recorded with location services on carry coordinates. iPhone writes them as an ISO 6709 string in a QuickTime key; many Android camera apps embed a similar location tag. Anyone with the original file can read where it was filmed.
• Device make and model. iPhone videos name the exact model. Many Android and camera files do the same, and editing software often adds its own signature.
• Technical fingerprint. Resolution, frame rate, codecs (H.264, HEVC), bitrates, audio channels, color space, and per-track creation times. Harmless for privacy, useful for spotting re-encodes.

There is no literal "EXIF" block in a video; EXIF is a photo standard. But the container metadata plays the same role, and the privacy implications are identical.

How to see a video's metadata

• iPhone: open the video in Photos and swipe up. You get the date, device, and a map pin if location was recorded.
• Android: open it in Google Photos, swipe up or tap Details.
• Windows: right-click the file, Properties, Details tab. Look at Origin (Media created) and the Video/Audio sections.
• Mac: QuickTime Player's inspector (Command-I) shows basics; Finder's Get Info mostly shows file system dates.
• Everything at once: the free MediaInfo app (Windows, Mac, Linux) lists every field the file carries, including iPhone QuickTime keys and GPS. For one-off checks it is the video equivalent of our photo EXIF viewer.

The privacy part: your videos can leak your location

The same risk that applies to photo GPS applies to video, with one difference: people scrub photos and forget videos. A house tour clip, a video of your kids in the yard, a garage workout video, each can carry exact coordinates if it left your phone as an original file.

The saving grace is how videos usually travel. WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube re-encode uploads and discard location metadata, the same way they strip photo EXIF. The risk is the original file: email attachments, cloud links (Drive, Dropbox, iCloud), file transfers, marketplace listings, and videos sent "as document" in messengers all deliver the file with metadata intact.

How to remove metadata from a video

• iPhone, before sharing: in the share sheet, tap Options at the top and turn off Location (and All Photos Data where offered). The shared copy goes out without coordinates.
• Any platform, the blunt method: re-export the video. Trimming one frame in an editor and exporting, or converting it with a desktop tool, writes a fresh file whose metadata is just the export moment. Quality is re-encoded, so keep an original if you care about it.
• Check your work: open the shared copy in MediaInfo. If the GPS key and original dates are gone, you are clean.

For photos the same cleanup takes one drag and drop in our EXIF remover, which strips every tag in your browser without uploading the file anywhere.

The flip side: sometimes you want the data visible

Metadata is fragile: one WhatsApp send and the date and location are gone. If you record videos where the when and where are the point, work documentation, deliveries, inspections, incidents, relying on hidden metadata is the wrong tool. Our Timestamp Camera iOS app burns the date, time, and GPS location visibly into the video frame while recording. A visible stamp survives every re-encode and every platform, because it is pixels, not tags.

FAQ

Do MP4 files have EXIF data?

Not EXIF specifically; that standard belongs to photos. MP4 and MOV files store comparable information (dates, device, sometimes GPS) in container metadata and QuickTime keys. Tools like MediaInfo read it all.

Can you tell where a video was filmed?

If the original file came from a phone with location on: yes, the coordinates are usually embedded and any metadata viewer will map them. If the video passed through social media or a messenger first: almost never, because platforms strip location on upload.

Does WhatsApp remove video metadata?

Yes. Videos sent normally through WhatsApp are re-encoded and lose their recording date and location. Files sent as documents can retain more of their original metadata, which is worth remembering in both directions: for privacy, and for receiving originals when the metadata matters.

Do screen recordings have metadata?

They carry a creation date (when you recorded the screen) and device info, but no camera details and no GPS by default. Their metadata describes the recording session, not the content on screen, similar to how screenshots handle metadata.

How do I check if a video someone sent me has been edited?

Compare the container dates in MediaInfo: an Encoded date much later than the claimed recording date, editing software named in the writer field, or missing device info on a supposedly fresh phone video are all re-encode signals. Then judge the content itself, as covered in how to tell if a photo has been edited; the same logic applies to frames.

Bottom line

Videos absolutely have metadata: date, device, technical details, and often your exact location. Read it with your phone's info panel or MediaInfo, strip it by disabling location on share or re-exporting, and remember that platforms strip it for you while original files do not. Treat your videos with the same metadata hygiene as your photos, and when the date and place need to be provable rather than hidden, put the stamp in the pixels instead.