Strip Metadata from MP4 Files

Every MP4 file carries metadata that has nothing to do with the video you see. GPS coordinates, exact timestamps, the make and model of the device that recorded it, the software that created it, and AI generation signatures all travel invisibly inside the file. StripShot removes all of it in your browser with no uploads and no quality loss.

Who needs to strip MP4 metadata?

Content creators who want to prevent platforms from labeling AI-generated video
Journalists protecting source location data before publishing footage
Privacy-conscious users who record at home and share publicly
Freelancers and agencies stripping client device info before delivery

Understanding the MP4 Box Structure

MP4 and MOV files are built on the ISOBMFF (ISO Base Media File Format) specification. The file is a tree of nested boxes, each with a 4-byte size, a 4-byte type code, and a payload. The two top-level boxes you will always see are ftyp (file type declaration) and moov (movie container). All metadata lives inside moov. The actual video and audio frames live in mdat boxes, which are never touched during metadata stripping.

Inside moov you will find the mvhd (movie header) box, which stores creation and modification timestamps for the whole file, plus one or more trak (track) boxes for video and audio. Each trak has a tkhd (track header) with its own timestamps. Inside trak is mdia, which contains mdhd (media header) with a third set of timestamps.

The most metadata-rich box is udta (user data), a child of moov that contains free-form QuickTime atoms. Each atom is a four-character code preceded by ©: ©swr for software, ©too for creation tool, ©xyz for GPS, ©mak for make, ©mod for model, ©cpy for copyright, ©des for description. AI video generators write their names into ©swr and ©too. StripShot removes the entire udta box, taking all of these with it.

Metadata Fields in MP4 Files

GPS Coordinates

udta / ©xyz

What it stores: Location data recorded by phones and cameras at the moment of capture or generation. Stored as a decimal latitude/longitude string inside the udta box.

Privacy risk: Reveals where a video was recorded. A single frame can expose your home address, workplace, or current location.

Creation and Modification Timestamps

mvhd, tkhd, mdhd

What it stores: Three separate header boxes each store creation time and modification time as 32-bit or 64-bit integers counting seconds since January 1, 1904.

Privacy risk: Timestamps prove when a video was made, expose timezone, and for AI-generated videos, reveal the exact server generation time.

Device Make and Model

udta / ©mak, ©mod

What it stores: QuickTime atoms inside udta store the camera manufacturer (Apple, Samsung, Canon) and the specific device model (iPhone 15 Pro, Galaxy S24).

Privacy risk: Ties the video to a specific device. Combined with other metadata, can uniquely identify the person who recorded it.

Software and Encoder

udta / ©swr, ©too

What it stores: The software atom stores the application that created or last modified the file. AI tools write their own names here: Sora, Runway, Pika, and others.

Privacy risk: Exposes which AI tool generated the video, which editing app was used, and often the exact version of that software.

XMP Metadata

XMP_

What it stores: An ISOBMFF box named XMP_ contains an XML document with Adobe XMP metadata. AI generators embed generation parameters, prompt text, and tool identification here.

Privacy risk: XMP is read by every major platform and can trigger AI content labels. It may also contain original prompt text.

C2PA Content Credentials

c2pa

What it stores: C2PA (Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity) credentials are cryptographically signed records that permanently mark the video as AI-generated.

Privacy risk: Directly triggers Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn AI content labels. Cannot be removed by simply re-saving the file without the correct tools.

Copyright and Description

What it stores: Free-text fields that can store copyright notices, descriptions, and comments. AI platforms sometimes write their own copyright or description strings here.

Privacy risk: Can expose commercial licensing status, content descriptions, or watermark text that was not visible in the video itself.

Why Re-exporting Does Not Work

A common misconception is that exporting from iMovie, Premiere, or CapCut will strip metadata. In practice, those tools write their own software strings and timestamps back into the output file. You end up with different metadata, not no metadata. The GPS atom may disappear, but ©swr will now contain "Adobe Premiere Pro" or "CapCut" instead of nothing.

Changing the file extension from .mp4 to .mov or vice versa does nothing. The container format and all its metadata boxes are identical between the two; only the ftyp brand changes.

StripShot performs targeted binary removal. It does not re-encode or re-export. It reads the original file, walks the box tree, removes or zeroes only the metadata, and writes the result. The output is the smallest possible clean file with no generation loss.

Free. No sign-up required. Files never leave your device.