How to add location to photos on iPhone

5 min read · Updated 3 Oct 2026

To add location to photos on iPhone, open the photo in the Photos app, tap the Info button, then tap Adjust Info and Adjust Location (or "Add a location"), search for the place and pick it from the map results. To have new photos tagged automatically, allow the Camera app to use Location Services.

Turn on location for the Camera

iPhone photos only get coordinates when the Camera app is allowed to use Location Services. With it on, the phone writes latitude and longitude into each photo as you shoot, so this is the easiest way to geotag photos on iPhone.

1. Open Settings. Go to Privacy & Security > Location Services and make sure Location Services is on.
2. Find Camera. Scroll down the list of apps and tap Camera.
3. Allow access. Choose While Using the App.
4. Keep Precise Location on if you want the exact spot rather than an approximate area.

This only affects photos you take from now on. Earlier photos without coordinates need to be tagged by hand, as described below. To stop the Camera recording location, pick Never on the same screen.

Add or change the location of a photo

The Photos app can attach a location to any photo in your library, including screenshots, saved images and imported camera files. The steps below follow Apple's current iPhone User Guide; older iOS versions use slightly different labels, but the Info screen and the Adjust option are in the same place.

1. Open the photo. In the Photos app, tap the photo or video.
2. Show the details. Tap the Info button (the "i" icon), or swipe up on the photo.
3. Choose Adjust Location. Tap Adjust Info, then Adjust Location. If the photo has no location yet, the details panel also offers Add a location.
4. Search for the place. Type an address, landmark or town in the text field.
5. Pick the result. Tap the right entry under Map Locations. The photo now appears in Places and in location searches.

A location typed this way is only as precise as the search result you choose, usually an address or a named place. That is fine for "Rome, Trevi Fountain" but less useful for the exact viewpoint on a mountain path. For more ways to tag photos, see how to geotag photos.

Change the location of several photos at once

If a whole set was taken in one place, you do not have to edit photos one by one:

1. Tap Select in the Photos library or an album.
2. Tap the thumbnails of every photo that should share the location.
3. Adjust the location using the same Adjust Location steps as for a single photo, then pick the place.

Every selected photo gets the same coordinates. That suits a day at one venue, but a walk across a city will put all the photos on a single pin. For a route, a GPS track is the better tool (see the last section).

Revert or remove a location

• Undo your change: open the photo, tap the Info button, tap Adjust Info > Adjust Location, then tap Revert. The photo goes back to its original location.
• Remove the location entirely: in the same screen, tap No Location.

Apple's guide to photo information on iPhone covers these options, including date and time changes.

Share photos without location

You can keep location in your library and still leave it out of the photos you send. Apple's Personal Safety guide describes the steps:

1. Select the photos in Photos (or the camera roll from the Camera app).
2. Tap the Share button, then tap Options.
3. Turn off Location. "Location Not Included" appears above the Options button.
4. Share using any method in the share sheet.

Why your photos have no location

If the details panel shows no map or only "Add a location", one of these is usually the reason:

Photos from a camera without GPS

Most mirrorless cameras, DSLRs and compacts record no location. When you import their files to your iPhone, the Photos app has nothing to show. You can place them by hand as above, but for a walk with dozens of locations the accurate method is a GPS track:

1. Record a track on your phone while you shoot with the camera. Set the camera clock correctly before you start.
2. Export the track as a GPX file and copy it to your computer with the camera files.
3. Geotag on the computer. A desktop tool matches each photo's capture time to the track and writes the coordinates. Our guide on geotagging photos from a GPX file covers Lightroom Classic, ExifTool and digiKam.
4. Import the geotagged files to your iPhone or iCloud Photos. Photos reads the coordinates stored in the files and places them on the map.

This takes a few minutes more than tapping Adjust Location, but each photo ends up where you were standing rather than on one pin for the whole day.