Guide

Compress images without uploading them, and strip the GPS first

Updated: 22 October 2026 · Hafiz Khalid

Most online image compressors want your photo on their server first. That is the one step you do not need: a browser can resize and compress a photo on your own device. And if the photo was taken at home, it is worth removing the location before anyone else sees it.

Two kinds of smaller: pixels and KB

A phone photo is often 4000 pixels wide and several megabytes. You can make it smaller in two ways, and usually you want both:

Resize (fewer pixels): set the longest side to what the screen or site actually shows, for example 1600 pixels.
Compress (fewer KB at the same size): save as JPEG or WebP at a lower quality. Around 75 to 85 % quality the difference is hard to see.

Resizing saves the most. A photo cut from 4000 to 1600 pixels on the long side has about a sixth of the pixels, and the file shrinks roughly in line.

Sizes that work

Use	Longest side	Note
eBay listing	1600 px	eBay asks for at least 500 px and recommends 1600 px so zoom works.
Email attachment	1280 to 1600 px	Usually a few hundred KB per photo, so several fit in one email.
Classifieds (Kleinanzeigen, Vinted)	1600 px	Sharp on a phone, quick to upload on mobile data.

What a photo gives away: EXIF and GPS

Besides the picture, a phone stores metadata in the file: date and time, phone model, often the lens and settings, and, if the camera may use your location, the GPS position where it was taken. A photo of the sofa you are selling, taken in your living room, carries your home address in coordinates. The German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) recommends removing location data from photos before you put them online.

Apple notes that sharing a photo from an iPhone shares its metadata, including the location, unless you turn it off under Options in the share sheet. Some websites remove metadata when they process an upload, but you cannot see whether they do, and it does not help with email or messenger attachments sent as files.

How to do both without uploading

Open the image compressor and drop your photos in. They are read by your browser and never sent anywhere.
Look at what each photo contains: GPS, camera, date. The tool shows it before you clean it.
Pick a preset (eBay, Kleinanzeigen, Vinted, email) or your own longest side, and a quality.
Download. Each new file is redrawn from its pixels, so it carries no EXIF and no GPS, and the tool reads it back to check.
Rename files that contain your name or address before you post them; the filename is not metadata.

To check that a tool really does not upload: open your browser's developer tools, go to the Network tab, and watch it while you compress. Nothing should be sent.

Stop it at the source

On an iPhone you can stop the camera from saving location under Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services, Camera. On Android the setting is in the camera app and differs by maker. Photos you already took keep their location until you remove it.

Questions

How do I compress an image without uploading it?

Use a tool that runs in your browser, such as the image compressor here. The photo is read and compressed on your device; you can confirm in the browser's Network tab that nothing is sent.

Does compressing a photo remove the GPS location?

Not always. Many tools copy the metadata into the new file. A tool that redraws the photo from its pixels, like this one, writes a file without EXIF and GPS.

What size should photos be for eBay?

At least 500 pixels on the longest side; eBay recommends 1600 pixels so buyers can zoom.

Do eBay or Vinted remove EXIF data?

Some platforms strip metadata when they process uploads, but you cannot check that from outside. Removing it yourself before you upload is the safe way.

Sources

Checked on 22 October 2026. Platform rules change; check the current help page of the site you post on.