When I 'Remove location data' from a photo in Preview, it still seems to be there in Photos

I load up a photo in Preview, click on the 'I' icon to load up More Info. I then go into the top 'I' tab and then the GPS tab in the row just below that, and click Remove Location Info. I of course assume location info is gone. I hit File > Save just to make sure, though I think I don't need to do that.

However, when I then open that photo in Photos rather than Preview, and scroll up, it clearly shows me the map of the photo's location, as if it still contains location data. And if I then go into Image > Location, the option 'Hide Location' is still available, seemingly offering another indication that location data is still there.

Any thoughts?

iMac 24″

Posted on Apr 2, 2023 8:57 AM

Top-ranking reply

léonie

Level 10

205,271 points

Posted on Apr 2, 2023 6:30 PM

When you import a photo with a modified location to Photos, without removing the previous version of the photo from Photos, it will be treated as a duplicate and Photos may use the earlier imported file, not the modified file.

To see in Photos, if the location has been removed by Preview, import the modified file into a new, empty Photos Library. Then you can be sure, that no older version of the same original file is already in your Photos Library and complicating things.

Which system version is running on your Mac? I just tested your procedure to remove the location with Preview on macOS 13 Ventura and it worked well. The info is no longer showing a location in Photos.

But I made sure, the file I imported into Photos is not a duplicate of a file already in the library.

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When I 'Remove location data' from a photo in Preview, it still seems to be there in Photos

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