MAT2 (Metadata Anonymisation Toolkit 2) is the tool the Tails project relies on to clean a wide range of files, not just images. It strips metadata from JPEG, PNG, PDF, Office documents, audio, video and more, and can be driven from the command line or through right-click extensions for Linux file managers like Nautilus and Dolphin. Written in Python and maintained by Julien Voisin, it saw a fresh release in late 2025 so it is very much alive. It is open source under the LGPL-3.0 license. Full functionality is Linux-focused so Windows and Mac users are better served by ExifTool or ExifCleaner.
MAT2
The Tails project's toolkit for cleaning metadata from many file types.
0xacab.org
FreeOpen SourceLinuxOpen-source project
Pricing Free and open source.
Strengths
- Cleans documents, audio and video, not just images
- CLI plus Linux file-manager integration
- Trusted by the Tails project
- Open source (LGPL-3.0), still maintained
Considerations
- Full functionality is Linux-only
- No native GUI on Windows or macOS
Listed in Metadata Removal
