ScrubPhoto

App/Google Pixel Magic Editor

Remove AI metadata from Pixel Magic Editor photos

Updated

A photo edited with Magic Editor carries IPTC metadata saying it was edited with generative AI, Google said in October 2024, and Google Photos now adds C2PA Content Credentials when an AI edit is saved. Meta reads both kinds of data and TikTok reads C2PA. ScrubPhoto removes both from the file, but the SynthID watermark Google adds to Reimagine edits stays in the pixels.

Check a file for Instagram, TikTok and Facebook label triggers or scrub it now. Both run in your browser and nothing is uploaded.

What Magic Editor and Google Photos write into a photo

Google's October 2024 post on AI editing transparency says Magic Editor, Magic Eraser and Zoom Enhance edits already carry IPTC metadata that marks them as generative AI edits. The same post says Best Take and Add Me, which blend several shots without generating new pixels, get IPTC metadata too.

C2PA came later. Google Photos Help says that if an original photo has no Content Credentials, Google Photos adds them when an AI edit is saved. If the photo already has credentials, each later edit joins its history, including non-AI edits like a crop. In the app, generative edits appear as "Edited with AI tools" in the How this was made section.

The pixels can carry a mark of their own. Google said in February 2025 that Reimagine edits in Magic Editor get a SynthID watermark. It added that some edits may be too small for SynthID to label and detect.

Pixel 10 photos carry Content Credentials before any edit

Google said in September 2025 that Pixel Camera on the Pixel 10 attaches Content Credentials to every JPEG it captures. In May 2026, Google wrote that Meta will start labeling camera-captured media with Content Credentials on Instagram, so authentic Pixel shots would be recognized as camera photos. Scrubbing removes that proof along with everything else. For an unedited Pixel 10 photo, keeping the file as it is may serve you better.

Which platforms react to Magic Editor metadata

Meta lists C2PA and IPTC as the AI indicators it detects on Instagram, Facebook and Threads. A Magic Eraser touch-up is an edit, and Meta said in September 2024 that edited content carries its label in the post's menu, not on the photo. Instagram calls that label AI info today, has also displayed it as AI content, and first launched it as Made with AI. On TikTok, the May 2024 announcement was about Content Credentials: content carrying them is labeled automatically. Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube and X each document their own approach.

How to remove metadata from a Pixel photo

  1. Open the tool in Chrome and pick the edited photo from your phone.
  2. The panel shows the IPTC digital source type, the C2PA signer and whether GPS is present.
  3. Tap Scrub and keep the clean copy with Download, or pass it on with Share.

Installed from Chrome as an app, it also appears in the Android share menu. Our Android metadata guide goes deeper on phone photos.

ScrubPhoto removes the XMP block where the IPTC digital source type lives, the C2PA manifest, and EXIF with GPS and serial numbers. It also drops data appended after the image. On a Pixel that can include a motion photo's clip and any HDR gain map or depth map, so the result is a standard still. The main image's pixels stay byte-for-byte identical, and the color profile stays.

What stays after scrubbing a Magic Editor photo

SynthID stays wherever Reimagine added it, because it lives in the pixels and ScrubPhoto never changes them. Google's own tools can still find it: Google DeepMind lists Gemini, Search and Chrome as places that check for SynthID. Can you remove SynthID explains why no metadata tool can. Labels you add yourself, and copies you already shared, are also out of reach. And whatever the file holds, Meta's rule for photorealistic video and realistic audio still applies: people must disclose it when it was digitally created or altered.

Questions about Magic Editor and AI labels

Why does my Pixel photo say AI info on Instagram?

If you used Magic Editor, Magic Eraser or Zoom Enhance, the file carries IPTC metadata marking a generative edit, and Google Photos may have added Content Credentials too. Meta reads both. The checker shows which one your copy has.

Is the AI info in Google Photos the same as Instagram's label?

No. Google Photos Help says photos without Content Credentials may show an AI info section, based on IPTC data, instead of How this was made. That panel lives inside Google Photos. Instagram decides its own label from the file you upload.

Can I remove metadata from a Pixel photo without losing quality?

Yes for JPEG, PNG and WebP. The image data is copied over untouched while the metadata around it is dropped, so the pixels match exactly. You lose the motion clip and any HDR gain map stored after the image.

Can I remove SynthID from a Reimagine edit?

No. SynthID is part of the image itself, and ScrubPhoto neither detects nor removes it.

Sources

Official pages this page was checked against in October 2026: