Image guide

How to Find GPS Location in a Photo

Check a photo for EXIF GPS coordinates, see what the map pin and place names mean, and compare two JPEGs to find out why location can be missing.

All guides

To find the location saved in a photo, check the original file for latitude and longitude in its EXIF metadata. Image Information reads those coordinates in your browser. If this copy has no readable EXIF GPS coordinates, the tool cannot recover them from what’s visible in the picture.

Check a JPEG for GPS coordinates

Try two versions of the same synthetic image. Only one has GPS tags, so the pictures look identical even though their location results differ.

Open Image Information Download the JPEG with GPS Download the JPEG without GPS

  1. In Image Information, select Choose file and open sample-gps.jpg.
  2. Look under Location. The sample should show Latitude 37.774900° and Longitude -122.419400°. The negative longitude means west. These coordinates were added to the sample to mark a point in San Francisco; the image itself was generated.
  3. Select Change file and open sample.jpg. Under Location, you should see No EXIF GPS coordinates found. This copy still has other EXIF tags, so seeing an EXIF section does not mean GPS is present.

See the saved point on a map

Switch back to sample-gps.jpg and select Show map. OpenStreetMap marks the saved point. Under Place lookup, Photon can show San Francisco, California, and United States for this sample. Those names come from looking up the point in current map data, so some fields may be unavailable or change over time. The coordinates remain visible even if the map or place lookup fails.

The tool does not upload your image. Selecting Show map shares the coordinates with OpenStreetMap and Photon. If a location is sensitive, you can read the coordinates without opening the map.

Why a photo may have no GPS location

  • The camera did not save a location. Location access may have been off, or the camera may not have recorded a position.
  • The copy lost its location tags. An export, screenshot, or version saved from a messaging or social app can omit them. For example, Apple Photos lets you share without location. If you have the original, check it alongside the shared copy.
  • The GPS tags are incomplete or invalid. The viewer needs a valid latitude and longitude. Other metadata can still be readable.

GPS tags can be edited, so a map pin shows what this file says about the location. If you’re checking privacy before sharing, inspect the exact copy you plan to send.