WebP is Google's modern web image format, built to be smaller than JPEG or PNG. People treat it as a lightweight, web-only format, and that is exactly the trap: when a photo is saved or re-encoded as WebP, the camera's original EXIF - including GPS - often rides straight through into it.
Scan a WebP fileWebP stores EXIF, XMP and an ICC colour profile in named chunks inside its RIFF container. If the source was a phone or camera photo, that EXIF can include the full GPS block (coordinates, altitude, bearing), the camera make and model, and the capture timestamps, the same data a JPEG carries. Converting a photo to WebP for the web does not clean it, and File X-Ray reads whatever survived the conversion.
Editor and identity fields come through the XMP packet. A WebP can carry DocumentID and InstanceID, which link copies to an original and form a version chain across saves, an edit history, and creator and copyright fields. The ICC profile names the colour space (Display P3, sRGB, Adobe RGB), which hints at the capture or editing pipeline behind the image.
Provenance is common here too. A lot of AI tools and design apps export WebP, so it is a frequent home for a C2PA Content Credentials manifest. When one is present the scan names the claim generator (ChatGPT, Adobe Firefly, Microsoft Designer) and the certificate issuer. Data appended after the RIFF container is flagged as a possible hidden payload.
This is a selection. The full field manual documents the fields read from each format.
It can. WebP stores EXIF in its container, so a photo converted or saved to WebP often keeps the original camera EXIF, including GPS coordinates, make, model and timestamps. Converting to WebP for the web does not strip it by itself.
Often, yes. Design and AI tools frequently export WebP with a C2PA Content Credentials manifest, which the scan reads to name the tool that produced and signed the image. And if the WebP came out of a local generator like Automatic1111, the full text recipe can still be sitting in its EXIF UserComment, which the scan also reads. One way or the other, the provenance usually travels with the file.
Re-encode it without the EXIF and XMP chunks, or use the clean copy this page produces, which strips the metadata while leaving the image visually unchanged.
The fields are largely the same EXIF, XMP and ICC data; WebP just stores them in RIFF chunks instead of JPEG markers. The practical difference is that people assume a WebP is just a web file and do not check, so inherited GPS and camera data slip through more often.
File X-Ray reads WebP files entirely in your browser - the file never leaves your device. For this format you can also download a clean copy with the metadata removed. Scan a file now.