Guide
Video Metadata Explained
Last reviewed: September 1, 2026
A video is streams plus a container
Audio and video are encoded streams packaged inside a container such as MP4 or MOV. The container can also hold dates, dimensions, codec labels, device or software fields and location data. Renaming the file does not remove those fields.
Container metadata versus video pixels
Removing recognised container metadata does not edit the frames or audio. Visible faces, signs, speech and background details remain. A careful privacy review includes both a metadata scan and a visual review.