Remove the altered-content label on YouTube

Remove the AI label on YouTube

YouTube asks creators to disclose when a video contains realistic altered or synthetic material, and it can show a notice in the description. It also reads C2PA credentials on the images and thumbnails you use. This tool works on those images: thumbnails, frames and channel art.

Remove IA Label removes C2PA credentials and EXIF/XMP metadata from your images without recompressing. It does not modify the video itself and it does not replace the synthetic-content disclosure the platform requires.

Drop images here or click to upload

JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, TIFF, HEIC · up to 5 photos · 100 MB · no GIF · pixels untouched. iCloud or cloud? Download the full original; files under 4 KB are usually a proxy.

How YouTube shows the label

YouTube applies two different things: a required disclosure the creator checks when uploading a video with realistic altered or synthetic content (visible as a notice in the description or over the player), and the reading of C2PA Content Credentials on images. Thumbnails with embedded credentials can carry that provenance information.

How to remove it, step by step

Check the thumbnail or image in the checker to see its credentials and metadata.
Remove provenance credentials with the /c2pa mode.
Clean EXIF and XMP from thumbnails and channel art with /exif and /xmp if you need to.
Download, check again and upload the image to your video or channel.

Nuance and false positives

A video’s altered content label depends on your disclosure and on YouTube’s analysis, not on an image’s metadata: cleaning the thumbnail does not exempt you from disclosing synthetic material when that is required. Where this tool does help is thumbnails or images exported with provenance that would mark a design you made as AI. Pixel-level watermarks are not touched.

Final tip

Keep the two things separate: follow YouTube’s disclosure when your video requires it, and use cleaning only for images (thumbnails, art) whose metadata does not reflect how you created them.

Frequently asked questions

Does this tool remove the altered-content label from a video?

No. That label depends on the creator’s disclosure and on YouTube’s analysis of the video. The tool only cleans metadata from images such as thumbnails or channel art.

Do I still have to disclose synthetic content if I clean the thumbnail?

Yes. The duty to disclose altered or synthetic material still applies; cleaning an image does not replace that disclosure and should not be used to avoid it.

Does it work for thumbnails made with AI or in Canva/Photoshop?

Yes. If your thumbnail carries C2PA credentials or provenance metadata, you can remove them so an image you designed is not flagged.

Which thumbnail formats are supported?

JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, TIFF and HEIC (not GIF), up to 5 images and 100 MB per batch, without recompressing.