What Metadata Does Midjourney Embed in Your Images

When you generate an image with Midjourney v6, the output is more than just pixels. Embedded inside every downloaded file is a collection of metadata fields that identify the image as AI-generated, record when it was created, and in some cases link it back to your Midjourney account. While Midjourney has not yet adopted the C2PA content credentials standard, its EXIF and IPTC tags are more than enough for platforms, forensic tools, and metadata scanners to flag your images as synthetic. If you use Midjourney professionally or share your work on social media, understanding exactly what is embedded is the first step to controlling your digital footprint.

Midjourney v6 EXIF Fields: The Software Signature

The most immediately identifiable metadata in a Midjourney image is the EXIF Software field. Every image downloaded from Midjourney -- whether through the website, the Discord bot, or the API -- has this field set to a string that explicitly names Midjourney as the creating tool.

Here is what the core EXIF block typically contains in a Midjourney v6 PNG output:

Software: Set to "Midjourney" with a version identifier (e.g., "Midjourney V6.1"). This single field is what most automated scanners check first. Platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and stock photography sites routinely scan the EXIF Software field against a database of known AI tool signatures. A match triggers automatic labeling or content flagging.

DateTime and DateTimeOriginal: Both fields record the UTC timestamp of when the image was generated. This is not the download time -- it is the generation time, recorded by Midjourney's servers at the moment the render completes. This allows anyone with access to the file to determine exactly when the image was created.

ImageDescription and UserComment: Midjourney v6 writes a unique job identifier into one of these fields. The identifier is a string that corresponds to the specific generation job on Midjourney's infrastructure. While this does not directly reveal your username, it can be correlated with Midjourney's server logs -- and Midjourney retains generation records. In legal or compliance contexts, this job ID can be used to trace an image back to the originating account.

Image dimensions and resolution: Standard fields for width, height, and resolution (72 DPI for web downloads, 300 DPI for upscaled versions) are populated.

The total EXIF footprint in a Midjourney v6 image is typically between 1.5 KB and 3 KB. While small compared to C2PA-laden outputs from DALL-E 3, these few kilobytes contain everything a platform needs to identify the image as AI-generated.

IPTC Data: Captions, Creators, and Copyright

Beyond EXIF, Midjourney also writes IPTC (International Press Telecommunications Council) metadata into downloaded images. IPTC was originally designed for news wire services to attach captions and credit information to photographs, and it remains a standard metadata format supported by all major image processing tools.

Midjourney v6 populates the following IPTC fields:

Caption/Description: Contains a truncated version of the prompt used to generate the image. Midjourney typically writes the first 100-200 characters of the prompt into this field. For short prompts, the entire text may appear. For longer, complex prompts, only the beginning is preserved. This partial prompt text is sufficient to identify the image's subject matter and confirm it was text-to-image generated.

Creator: Set to the Midjourney username of the account that generated the image. This is not an alias or display name -- it is the actual account handle (e.g., @username). Anyone who extracts the IPTC data from the file can see exactly which Midjourney account produced the image.

Copyright Notice: Contains a copyright string referencing Midjourney's terms of service. The exact text varies but typically reads something like "Generated by Midjourney. Subject to Midjourney Terms of Service." This asserts Midjourney's license rights over the generated content.

Software: Redundant with the EXIF Software field, the IPTC Software field is also set to "Midjourney" with the version identifier.

The IPTC block adds approximately 400-800 bytes to the file. While small, the Creator field is particularly significant from a privacy perspective. It directly links the image file to a specific Midjourney user account.

PNG tEXt Chunks: Hidden Parameters in the File Structure

Midjourney outputs are delivered as PNG files, and PNG files support a metadata mechanism called tEXt chunks. These are key-value pairs stored directly in the PNG file structure, separate from EXIF and IPTC data. Many users assume that stripping EXIF data is sufficient to clean an image, but PNG tEXt chunks persist through most basic metadata removal workflows.

Midjourney v6 writes at least two significant tEXt chunks:

Parameters chunk: This chunk, keyed under a Midjourney-specific identifier, contains generation parameters including the aspect ratio, the model version, the quality setting, and whether image weighting or character reference features were used. It does not contain the full prompt (that is in IPTC), but it does contain enough parameter information to reconstruct the generation settings.

Job ID chunk: A second tEXt chunk stores the full job identifier as a plain text string. This is the same job ID that appears in the EXIF UserComment field, but duplicating it in a tEXt chunk makes it harder to remove -- many metadata tools that strip EXIF data do not touch PNG tEXt chunks.

The PNG tEXt chunks add roughly 300-600 bytes to the file. They are the smallest metadata component but also the most commonly overlooked during cleanup.

How Platforms Use Midjourney Metadata for Detection

Social media platforms and content marketplaces have become increasingly sophisticated at reading Midjourney metadata. Here is how the detection pipeline typically works:

Upload scanning: When you upload an image to Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or TikTok, the platform's backend immediately parses the file's metadata. The EXIF Software field is checked against a known AI tool database. If "Midjourney" is found, the image is flagged for AI labeling.

IPTC creator matching: Some platforms cross-reference the IPTC Creator field with known AI art accounts. If the Creator field matches a flagged account, additional scrutiny is applied even if the EXIF data has been modified.

Content licensing platforms: Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, and Getty Images all require AI-generated content to be explicitly disclosed. Their upload systems automatically check for Midjourney signatures in EXIF and IPTC fields. Undisclosed AI content detected through metadata scanning results in account penalties.

Search engine indexing: Google has begun factoring metadata into image search results. Images identified as AI-generated through their metadata receive an "AI-generated" label in search results, which has been shown to reduce click-through rates by 30-40% compared to unlabeled images.

Removing Midjourney Metadata: What You Need to Know

Removing Midjourney's metadata requires stripping three separate layers: EXIF data, IPTC data, and PNG tEXt chunks. Most basic metadata tools handle EXIF but miss IPTC and PNG tEXt. A complete removal process must address all three.

The approach used by RemoveAI Image is canvas-based redrawing. When you process an image through the tool, it renders the image onto an HTML5 Canvas element and then exports the canvas as a new file. This process discards all metadata layers -- EXIF, IPTC, XMP, PNG tEXt, and any other embedded chunks -- because the Canvas API only captures pixel data. The resulting file contains no embedded metadata whatsoever.

After removal, the image's metadata profile is identical to a photograph taken with a camera that had its metadata stripped -- there is no residual evidence of Midjourney generation. The file size decreases by the combined size of the removed metadata (typically 2-5 KB for Midjourney images), and the visual quality remains unchanged.

FAQ

Does Midjourney embed C2PA content credentials?

As of Midjourney v6.1, no. Midjourney does not embed C2PA content credentials or cryptographic provenance data. Its metadata consists of standard EXIF fields, IPTC blocks, and PNG tEXt chunks -- all of which are plain text and easily removable. However, Midjourney has announced plans to adopt C2PA in the future, which would significantly increase both the amount of embedded metadata and the difficulty of removal.

Can the IPTC Creator field be used to find my real identity?

The IPTC Creator field contains your Midjourney username (e.g., @your_handle), not your legal name. However, if your Midjourney account is linked to your Discord account, and your Discord account uses your real name or is otherwise traceable, the username can serve as a bridge to your identity. For users concerned about privacy, this field should be removed before sharing images publicly.

Does downloading from the Midjourney website vs Discord produce different metadata?

The metadata content is essentially the same regardless of download method. Both the website and Discord bot produce files with the same EXIF, IPTC, and PNG tEXt fields. The only difference is that the website may produce slightly larger files due to additional PNG optimization chunks. The AI-identifying metadata -- Software field, Creator field, job ID -- is present in both.

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Midjourney v6 embeds enough metadata to identify every generated image as AI-created, link it to your account, and reveal your prompt. The EXIF Software field, IPTC Creator and Caption fields, and PNG tEXt chunks all work together to create a digital fingerprint that platforms scan automatically. RemoveAI Image strips all three layers -- EXIF, IPTC, and PNG tEXt -- in a single browser-based pass, with zero uploads to any server. Take control of what your Midjourney images reveal.