ExifCleaner 4.1.0

ExifCleaner 4.1.0 makes batch cleaning safer to understand and harder to misread.

Clearer results

• Each file now reports what actually happened: metadata removed, already clean, unchanged, or refused.
• Metadata details open with removed fields visible immediately. Fields that remain are kept in one secondary disclosure.
• Files can be sorted by name, type, source size, and before/after metadata counts while folder groups stay intact.
• The size column shows the original and resulting sizes instead of implying they are the same value.

Safer processing

• New installs default to Save as copy. Existing preferences are preserved during migration.
• RAF files are refused without writing because ExifTool cannot safely produce the requested cleaned RAF artifact. The rest of the batch continues.
• Already-clean files avoid an unnecessary rewrite. When macOS attribute removal is requested, only that requested operation runs.
• MP4 and MOV processing now explicitly clears movie, track, and media create/modify dates and verifies the generated artifact before success.
• File paths containing carriage returns or line feeds are rejected at both the IPC and ExifTool boundaries.

Easier intake and navigation

• Native Choose files and Choose folder actions complement drag and drop.
• Unsupported files are summarized once instead of disappearing silently.
• The drop area shows whether output will be written as cleaned copies or in place.
• Filenames and paths display safely in right-to-left locales, and Vietnamese now uses the standard vi locale code.

Engineering and contributor experience

• Electron, Vite, Vitest, Playwright, and electron-builder were upgraded within the supported Node 22 toolchain.
• CI and release workflows use pinned actions, explicit permissions and timeouts, deterministic runners, and a fixed seven-artifact release inventory.
• The Homebrew workflow is now read-only; third-party tap updates remain an explicit maintainer action.
• Architecture, code-walkthrough, subsystem, translation, and contribution guides are now maintained in the repository with automated drift checks.

Known limitations in 4.1.0

No executable release-blocking known gaps are approved for this release; documented format constraints follow below.

Format constraints

• RAF: cleaning is refused and the source is left unchanged because a safe cleaned RAF artifact cannot currently be guaranteed.
• PDF: ExifTool uses reversible updates, so prior metadata may remain recoverable.
• MKV: ExifTool does not expose a complete writable removal path.
• TIFF and AVIF: user-reported partial-removal behavior remains under investigation.

Downloads

Verify downloads against the release's SHASUMS256.txt file.

Opening unsigned builds

ExifCleaner remains unsigned. Signing would require publishing the maintainer's verified legal identity; no signed build is being promised.

• macOS 14 and earlier: right-click or Control-click the app, choose Open, then choose Open again.
• macOS 15 and later: open the app once, then use System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
• Windows: if SmartScreen appears, choose More info → Run anyway after verifying the checksum.
• Linux: make the AppImage executable with chmod +x ExifCleaner-4.1.0.AppImage; .deb and .rpm packages install normally.

Every artifact is built publicly from tagged source by GitHub Actions. ExifCleaner makes no network requests during normal use.

Only download ExifCleaner from the GitHub releases page.

Full changelog: v4.0.1...v4.1.0