How-To

How to Disable Geotagging Photos on Android

By Brian Burgess

Updated January 24, 2024

The photos you take on your Android phone may be adding your location metadata to them. Here’s how to disable geotagging photos on Android.

Taking photos and videos on your Android phone is an essential feature, and the camera quality is often a major selling point. But while you may have a great camera, you might want to disable geotagging photos on Android.

Geotagging is the data that includes your location and is added to the metadata of photos taken on your device. When enabled, part of the metadata includes GPS coordinates of where you took the photo or video.

So, in this guide, we’ll show you the steps you can follow to disable location data from being stored with the metadata included in your photos. This allows you to take photos without geotagging to begin with and having to remove it later.

What is Geotagging?

When you take photos on your phone, location data is added to help manage your collection by knowing where your photos are taken.

So, the next time you take a photo, open it in the Gallery app and swipe up on it, and you may be surprised to discover the data it has – including the device and location the photo was taken.

There are plenty of reasons why you would want to prevent location data. For example, when you share a photo online, most people can see that location data, too. If you have the precise location feature on, it can drill down to show your actual home address, which may be undesirable.

Note: The steps to disable geotagging photos vary slightly across devices like Google Pixels and Samsung Galaxy phones. However, the overall idea remains constant among versions of Android.

Disable Geotagging Photos on Android

The Google Lens camera app is built into most stock Android phones, like Google Pixels, and you can manage location permissions to prevent geotagging photos on the device.

1. Launch the Google Camera app and take the picture you want.
2. Tap the three-dot menu button in the top right corner of the app and select Manage permissions from the menu that appears.
3. Tap the Permissions section on the following menu.
4. Swipe down the menu and tap the Location option from the list.
5. Select Don’t allow or Ask every time from the menu to manually provide the camera permission to use the location when you take a photo.
6. Tap Don’t allow anyway on the verification message that appears on the screen.

Once you follow these steps, the geotagging feature of photos will no longer be allowed, and it will not show up in the metadata on the phone or when you post an image online.

Disable Geotagging Photos on Samsung Devices

The steps to disable geotagging photos on Samsung devices vary, but the idea is similar using the following steps.

1. Launch the Samsung Camera app on your phone or tablet.
2. When the camera app launches, tap Settings (gear icon) in the top left corner of the screen.
3. Swipe down the menu and toggle off the Location tags switch.

That’s it. Once you follow the steps, geo-location data will no longer be included in the metadata on the photos or videos you take on your phone via the Samsung camera. The location will no longer appear on the photos if you post them online, either.

Turn off Location Tracking Altogether

Another option you have is to turn off location sensors altogether on your phone. The Location switch should be included on your phone’s Quick Settings panel, which gives you a quick way to toggle location on or off on your phone.

To Toggle Location on or off on Android

1. Swipe from the top of your screen straight down once or twice until the Quick Settings panel appears.
2. Tap the Location switch to toggle it on or off. Since we’re talking about disabling location data on photos, tap it to turn it off so it isn’t lit up.
3. Take your photo, and it will not include your location data.

Since you may want other apps to have access to your location data, like Google Maps, you can swipe down to reveal the Quick Settings panel and toggle location back on when you need it.

Disabling Geotagging Photos on Android

Including location data on your photos can be helpful when organizing your photos by where you are at. However, it’s a privacy concern for other users.

If you fall into that camp, the good news is you can disable it directly in the camera app or by turning off location data.