ExifTool Guide: Managing Metadata in MP4 Files

This document provides a concise reference for using ExifTool with MP4 (and compatible MOV) video files. It covers installation and practical command examples for viewing, adding, editing, and removing metadata.

Current stable version (as of early 2026): 13.52

Official website: https://exiftool.org/

1. Installation Process

ExifTool is a Perl-based tool and does not require traditional installation in many cases. Choose the method appropriate for your operating system.

Windows

Recommended: Standalone Executable (no Perl required)

  1. Download the 32-bit or 64-bit Windows Executable ZIP from the official site (e.g., exiftool-13.52_64.zip).
  2. Extract the ZIP file to a folder (e.g., Desktop or C:\Tools).
  3. Rename exiftool(-k).exe to exiftool.exe.
  4. Move exiftool.exe and the exiftool_files folder to a directory in your system PATH (e.g., C:\Windows\System32), or add the folder to PATH manually.
  5. Open Command Prompt and type exiftool -ver to verify.

macOS

Recommended: macOS Package Installer

  1. Download ExifTool-13.52.pkg from the official site.
  2. Double-click the package to install (approve security prompts if needed: System Settings → Privacy & Security → "Open Anyway").
  3. The tool installs to /usr/local/bin/exiftool.
  4. Open Terminal and type exiftool -ver to confirm.

Alternative: Use Homebrew (brew install exiftool) if you have Homebrew installed.

Linux / Unix

Recommended: Package Manager (if available)

Alternative: Manual Install from Source

  1. Download Image-ExifTool-13.52.tar.gz from the official site.
  2. Extract: tar -xzf Image-ExifTool-13.52.tar.gz
  3. Navigate: cd Image-ExifTool-13.52
  4. Build and install: perl Makefile.PL && make test && sudo make install

Verify with exiftool -ver.

Note: Always test on non-critical files first. Use the -overwrite_original flag cautiously, as it prevents automatic backups.

2. Viewing Metadata

Display all readable metadata:

exiftool video.mp4

Date-related tags only:

exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s video.mp4

QuickTime-group tags (core for MP4):

exiftool -QuickTime:all video.mp4

Extract GPS data (including embedded tracks):

exiftool -gps:all -ee video.mp4

3. Adding or Editing Metadata

Set title, author, description, keywords:

exiftool -Keys:Title="My Video Title" \
         -Keys:Author="John Doe" \
         -Keys:Description="Vacation footage from 2025" \
         -Keys:Keywords="travel,beach,summer" video.mp4

Set multiple date fields consistently:

exiftool -QuickTime:CreateDate="2025:06:15 14:30:00" \
         -QuickTime:ModifyDate="2025:06:15 14:30:00" \
         -QuickTime:TrackCreateDate="2025:06:15 14:30:00" \
         -QuickTime:TrackModifyDate="2025:06:15 14:30:00" \
         -QuickTime:MediaCreateDate="2025:06:15 14:30:00" \
         -QuickTime:MediaModifyDate="2025:06:15 14:30:00" video.mp4

Add GPS coordinates:

exiftool -GPSLatitude=34.0522 -GPSLatitudeRef=North \
         -GPSLongitude=-118.2437 -GPSLongitudeRef=West video.mp4

4. Removing Metadata

Remove all writable metadata:

exiftool -all= video.mp4

Clear specific fields:

exiftool -Keys:Title= -GPS:all= video.mp4

Remove date tags:

exiftool "-QuickTime:CreateDate=" "-QuickTime:ModifyDate=" \
         "-QuickTime:TrackCreateDate=" "-QuickTime:TrackModifyDate=" \
         "-QuickTime:MediaCreateDate=" "-QuickTime:MediaModifyDate=" video.mp4

5. Batch Processing Examples

Apply title to all MP4 files recursively:

exiftool -r -Keys:Title="Batch Title" -ext mp4 .

Copy metadata from originals to processed versions:

exiftool -tagsfromfile ORIGINAL.mp4 -all:all -ext mp4 PROCESSED/

Set dates from filename (e.g., 20250615_143000_video.mp4):

exiftool "-QuickTime:CreateDate<${filename;$_=substr($_,0,15)}" \
         "-QuickTime:ModifyDate<${filename;$_=substr($_,0,15)}" -ext mp4 .

Additional Recommendations

6. Interactive ExifTool Command Tester

Type supported ExifTool commands below (focused on MP4 examples from this guide). Press Enter to "execute." The simulator provides mock outputs based on a hypothetical video.mp4 file. Supported commands include:

Other commands return a generic "recognized but not fully simulated" message.

ExifTool Simulator — Type commands and press Enter
user@browser:\~$ exiftool -ver
13.52

user@browser:\~$

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