How to inspect a PNG for hidden text fields

A PNG can look clean on screen while still carrying text that you cannot see in the image itself. That text might be a title, comment, author name, or the software that saved the file. If you are sharing an image, check those fields before you send it.

Use Photo Info & Cleaner to inspect a PNG's information and remove unwanted metadata. The check helps you see what is attached to the file, not just what appears on the canvas.

Inspect the PNG

1. Open Photo Info & Cleaner and choose the PNG file from your device.
2. Look through the image information for text fields, comments, descriptions, or other text entries. Read the full values, not only the field names.
3. Note any information you do not want to share, such as a personal name, internal project label, or software and workflow details.
4. If you plan to clean the file, keep the original and create a separate cleaned copy. Inspect that copy afterward to confirm what remains.

Text metadata is separate from the pixels. A field can be present even when nothing in the picture suggests it is there. Conversely, words visibly printed or drawn into the image are part of the pixels and will not appear as a metadata field.

What the result means

You find a title, description, or comment

These fields can explain what an image is about or preserve notes from its creator. They may be useful in a personal archive, but a comment can also contain private details or a draft note that was never meant for publication. Decide whether each value is still needed before removing it.

You find an author or copyright field

The field may identify a person, company, or rights holder. That can be intentional and useful when sharing licensed work. If the value is your name or organization, consider whether you want it attached to a public copy. Do not remove someone else's attribution if you need to preserve credit or licensing information.

You find a software or creation field

This often identifies the program or process that wrote the PNG. It usually does not reveal your account password or give someone access to your device. However, it can expose details about your workflow, editing software, or the way a file was prepared.

No text fields appear

The PNG may have no readable text metadata, or the information may be stored in a form the tool does not display. This result does not prove that the image contains no hidden data of any kind. It also says nothing about text visible in the image, which is part of the picture rather than a text field.

You see unfamiliar fields or values

PNG files can contain text in several chunk types, including tEXt, iTXt, and zTXt. These are containers for text, sometimes compressed or stored with language information. A field name may be custom, so an unfamiliar entry is not automatically harmful. Read the value and consider where the image came from before deciding what to remove.

Remove text you do not want to share

1. Keep an untouched original. Make a copy before cleaning, especially if the PNG is a work file, evidence, or an image you may need to edit again.
2. Remove only what you mean to remove. Use the cleaning options to clear unwanted text fields. If the tool offers a choice between selected fields and all metadata, select only the scope you need.
3. Save a new PNG. Give the cleaned copy a different name so you can tell it apart from the original. Do not overwrite the only copy.
4. Inspect the saved copy again. Open the cleaned file in the tool and check whether the text entries are gone. If a field remains, it may not be covered by the cleaning action you chose.

Removing text metadata can also remove useful attribution or editing notes, depending on what you select. For more on removing descriptive text specifically, see how to remove descriptive text from a PNG.

What metadata cleanup cannot do

A text-field check is not a complete security inspection. It will not tell you whether a visible label contains private information, and removing metadata does not erase words, faces, addresses, or other details drawn into the image. Review the picture itself before publishing it.

Metadata removal also does not prove that a PNG has no steganographic content. Steganography means hiding data inside image pixels or file structure in a way that ordinary viewers may not notice. A metadata cleaner is for the information it identifies and removes, not a guarantee that every possible hidden payload has been found.

Photo Info & Cleaner runs in your browser, and your photos and files stay on your device.