Does WeTransfer Remove Metadata From Your Files?
The short answer is no. WeTransfer delivers your files byte-for-byte. Whatever metadata is baked into the file when you upload it - EXIF and GPS coordinates in a photo, the author and revision history in a PDF - is exactly what the recipient downloads. WeTransfer is a transfer pipe, not a sanitizer, and it has never claimed to scrub file contents.
What metadata stays in your file
- Photos (JPEG/PNG): GPS latitude/longitude (often your home), the camera or phone make and model, the serial number on some cameras, the exact timestamp, and editing software.
- PDFs: the author name, the title, the application that created it, creation and modification dates, and an XMP block that can retain earlier draft data.
- Office documents: author, company, last-saved-by, and sometimes tracked changes or comments you thought were removed.
How to check what's in your file
On macOS, open a photo in Preview → Tools → Show Inspector → the GPS/EXIF tabs. On Windows, right-click → Properties → Details. For a PDF, open Document Properties in any reader. If you can see a location, a name, or a device there, so can whoever you send the file to.
Strip metadata before you send (free)
You don't need WeTransfer to do it - clean the file first, in seconds, with a free tool:
- Remove EXIF data from a photo (camera, timestamp, GPS)
- Remove only the GPS location
- Remove metadata from a PDF (author, producer, dates)
Do other transfer services strip it?
Most don't. The big consumer transfer tools all deliver files unchanged. End-to-end-encrypted services protect the file in transit, but once the recipient decrypts and opens it, the embedded metadata is still right there. Stripping has to happen to the file itself - encryption doesn't remove it.
A cleaner way to send
If the point of sending privately is that the content stays private, the metadata should go too. A better flow: strip the file, then deliver it with a single-use link that expires after one download - so the file carries no hidden data, and the link doesn't linger in an inbox forever. See also: WeTransfer alternatives with no account.