Offline metadata shredder that doesn't just wipe — it spoofs.
Remove or replace EXIF, GPS, device IDs, timestamps, and authorship in JPEG, PNG, HEIC, TIFF, RAW, PDF, DOCX, MP4, MOV — entirely on your machine.
Most "metadata cleaners" have two problems:
- They send your file to a remote server. That's the opposite of privacy.
- They wipe metadata completely. An empty metadata block is itself a signal — recipients (and forensic tools) can tell something was hidden.
DMS solves both. It runs entirely offline with no network calls. And beyond wiping, it can spoof — replacing GPS coordinates with plausible nearby points, device IDs with realistic profiles from a bundled database, and timestamps with shifted but believable dates. Files look ordinary, but the real underlying data is gone.
| Feature | DMS | ExifTool | mat2 | ImageOptim |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fully offline | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Metadata removal | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Metadata spoofing (plausible noise) | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | |
| Smart GPS spoofing (same region) | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Realistic device-profile substitution | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Watch folder automation | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | |
| Drag-and-drop GUI | ✅ PySide6 | ❌ (CLI only) | ✅ macOS only | |
| CLI for scripting | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Cross-platform | Win / macOS / Linux | all | Linux / macOS | macOS |
| Supported formats | JPEG, PNG, HEIC, TIFF, RAW, PDF, DOCX, MP4, MOV | very many | many | images |
| License | MIT | Artistic | LGPL-3.0 | GPL |
If you want raw breadth, ExifTool is unbeatable. DMS sits on top of ExifTool for the heavy lifting and adds a GUI, smart spoofing, watch folders, and sensible defaults so non-experts don't shoot themselves in the foot.
- Journalists & their sources — strip GPS and camera serial numbers from leaked photos before publication.
- Activists & whistleblowers — share evidence without leaking your device fingerprint or location.
- Lawyers & legal teams — sanitise client documents (PDF, DOCX) before disclosure.
- Photographers — control exactly what metadata reaches buyers and stock platforms.
- OSINT researchers & red teams — generate test files with controlled, plausible metadata.
- Anyone uploading directly via messengers, email, or cloud storage — these channels often leave full EXIF intact, unlike most social networks.
| Main Window | Clean & Spoof |
 |
 |
That installs two commands on your PATH:
| Command | What it is |
|---|---|
dms |
Command-line interface |
dms-gui |
Launches the graphical app |
Download DMS_Portable.exe from the latest release. ExifTool is bundled — nothing else to install.
Requires Python 3.11+.
git clone https://github.com/davvikq/deceptive-metadata-shredder
cd deceptive-metadata-shredder
python -m venv .venv
# Windows
.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
# macOS / Linux
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install -e .DMS uses ExifTool for the deepest metadata read/write support.
| Platform | What to do |
|---|---|
Windows (official .exe release) |
Already bundled — nothing to install |
| Windows (from source) | Place exiftool.exe and the exiftool_files folder in bin/ |
| macOS | brew install exiftool |
| Linux | sudo apt install libimage-exiftool-perl (or your distro's equivalent) |
Without ExifTool, DMS still does limited analysis via Pillow and built-in readers, and clean has fallback support for JPG / PNG / PDF / DOCX. spoof requires ExifTool for reliable write support.
Run dms --help for an overview, or dms <command> --help for any subcommand.
# Inspect what's in a file
dms analyze ./photo.jpg
dms analyze ./report.pdf --format json
# Wipe metadata into a new copy
dms clean ./photo.jpg
dms clean ./photo.jpg -o ./out/stripped.jpg --yes
# Spoof: replace metadata with plausible fake values
dms spoof ./photo.jpg --gps smart --device apple_iphone_14_pro --author "Jane Doe"
dms spoof ./scan.pdf --gps remove --dates shift:-400 --yes
# Watch a folder for new files
dms watch ./Downloads
dms watch ./Inbox --mode spoof --recursive
dms watch ./Drop --collect-subfolder
dms watch ./Drop --collect-subfolder --all
# Batch-process many files at once
dms batch ./*.jpg --mode clean --yes
dms batch ./a.jpg ./b.png --output-dir ./out --mode spoof --yes| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
dms |
Banner and short command list |
dms --version |
Version, Python, and ExifTool status |
dms analyze <file> |
List metadata. --format is table, json, or minimal. Read-only. |
dms verify <file> |
Report any sensitive metadata still present. Read-only; exits non-zero if the file is not clean. |
dms clean <file> |
Remove all metadata into a new file (*_cleaned by default). -o sets path. --yes skips prompt. |
dms spoof <file> |
Smart or guided spoofing. Flags: --gps, --device, --author, --dates, -o, --yes, --residual. ExifTool required. |
dms watch <folder> |
Watch for new files. --mode clean|spoof, --recursive, --collect-subfolder, --all. Ctrl+C stops. |
dms batch <paths...> |
Many files or globs in one run. --mode clean|spoof, --output-dir, --yes, --residual. |
Errors are logged to dms_errors.log in the working directory (or a temp path if that fails).
Launch with dms-gui, or python -m dms.interfaces.gui.app. The UI offers drag-and-drop, inspection tables, side-by-side compare views, batch flows, and spoof editors — same engine as the CLI, no commands required.
From a dev checkout on Windows:
.\scripts\build.ps1Runs PyInstaller and, if Inno Setup 6 is installed, also builds an installer.
| Artifact | Description |
|---|---|
DMS_Portable.exe |
Single portable GUI executable (ExifTool bundled) |
DMS_Setup.exe |
Installer (only if Inno Setup was found) |
On macOS / Linux use scripts/build_exe.sh. The output binary is dist/DMS and expects a system ExifTool.
GitHub Actions builds for all platforms when you push a version tag matching v*.*.*.
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
pip install -e .
python -m pytestOr pip install -e ".[dev]" then python -m pytest.
What is metadata spoofing? Instead of just removing metadata, DMS replaces sensitive fields (GPS, device IDs, timestamps, author) with plausible-looking fake values. A wiped file can itself be a signal that something was hidden; a spoofed file looks ordinary.
Why spoof instead of just remove? Empty metadata is sometimes more suspicious than realistic metadata. Spoofing maintains the natural look of a file while protecting the real underlying data.
Is DMS truly offline? Yes. There are no network calls. GPS spoofing uses bundled Natural Earth GeoJSON data; device profiles ship inside the package.
Does DMS modify my original files?
No. DMS always writes a new copy (e.g. photo_cleaned.jpg or photo_spoofed.jpg) and leaves your original untouched.
Which formats are supported? JPEG, PNG, HEIC, TIFF, WebP, RAW, PDF, DOCX, MP4, MOV, and others. ExifTool is recommended for full coverage; without it, DMS falls back to Pillow and built-in readers for JPG / PNG / PDF / DOCX.
DMS vs ExifTool — when should I use which? ExifTool is a powerful Swiss-army-knife CLI with the broadest format support. DMS sits on top of ExifTool and adds a GUI, smart spoofing logic, watch folders, and safer defaults. For scripting niche workflows, use ExifTool directly. For a click-and-go privacy tool, use DMS.
Is DMS free? Yes. MIT-licensed and fully open source.
Does DMS work on macOS and Linux?
Yes. Install via pipx/pip and brew install exiftool (macOS) or your distro's ExifTool package (Linux).
MIT — use it, fork it, ship it. © 2026 Davvik.