Where Does Windows Store Previous JPG Metadata?

If I add metadata to a JPG image by going to Properties -> Details and add information such as Title, Subject, Tags, Authors etc, the next time I add metadata to another JPG image, the previous information will appear in a dropdown. Where is that stored in Windows?

I thought you guys would pounce on this and tell me how dumb I am for not knowing.

Your description is not very clear.
If I do so on two pictures, I don't see any dropdowns on the second image.
What did you mean by:

Stigg said:

...the previous information will appear in a dropdown....

Click to expand...

Anyway: All metadata is stored in the image file itself.
If you change any part of the metadata by Properties -> Details (or another program) and copy that file to another disk or even another system, with that copy the (new) metadata will be included. There is no separate location where Windows stores that.

Could be some of the data will still be available somewhere in memory after you changed the data of the last image...

Edit: You might have a look at this Wikipedia page about EXIF.

Kees said:

Your description is not very clear.
If I do so on two pictures, I don't see any dropdowns on the second image.
What did you mean by:


Anyway: All metadata is stored in the image file itself.
If you change any part of the metadata by Properties -> Details (or another program) and copy that file to another disk or even another system, with that copy the (new) metadata will be included. There is no separate location where Windows stores that.

Could be some of the data will still be available somewhere in memory after you changed the data of the last image...

Edit: You might have a look at this Wikipedia page about EXIF.

Click to expand...

Hi Kees.

Yes, it's stored in the image file that I just tagged, but I could then delete that image file and Windows would remember the words I used for the next time.

A year later I could tag a completely different JPG image file, and when I click on the field, Windows will offer my previous inputs in a dropdown. It comes in handy sometimes, as I don't have to type it again, but I'd like to know where Windows is storing this information.

Kees said:

Anyway: All metadata is stored in the image file itself.

Click to expand...

It seems that is implementation specific:

In Windows 7 I can add meta data to files [using Explorer] for example title, rating and so on. Where is this meta data stored exactly?

Click to expand...

This metadata is called properties. It has been available in this way since Windows Vista.

Windows Explorer presents properties in a unified way, which might trick you into thinking that they're all coming from the same shop. But this is not the case.

Properties are exposed to the programmer via an API. (See below.)

Where exactly they're stored is an implementation detail. It depends on the filetype and on the kind of property. For example, filesystem timestamps are exposed as properties. Media file metadata such as EXIF for images or ID3 tags for MP3 is stored in the file itself. Still other metadata might be stored in an XML file accompanying the file whose properties you're inspecting.

So where is it stored? The answer is: It really depends, and you really don't have to worry, nor should you worry. Because, as I said, it is an implementation detail, and as far as programming goes, worrying about implementation details means bypassing the API.

Click to expand...

Source: Where does windows explorer store file meta data?

x BlueRobot said:

It seems that is implementation specific:


Source: Where does windows explorer store file meta data?

Click to expand...

So, it appears that the answer is; Nobody knows, but you don't have to worry about it.

I can see what people have entered into image files metadata from years ago. There must be some way to clear that.

Yes but you'll have to do this programmatically via a COM interface it would seem.

@Stigg
I see what you are pointing at.
I disabled all context menu options for previous versions by a registry file.

; Next function is for Right Mouse Button / 'Previous version'
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{596AB062-B4D2-4215-9F74-E9109B0A8153}]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{596AB062-B4D2-4215-9F74-E9109B0A8153}]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{596AB062-B4D2-4215-9F74-E9109B0A8153}]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{596AB062-B4D2-4215-9F74-E9109B0A8153}]
; Next function is for Right Mouse Button / Properties / Tab 'Previous versions'
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers\{596AB062-B4D2-4215-9F74-E9109B0A8153}]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers\{596AB062-B4D2-4215-9F74-E9109B0A8153}]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers\{596AB062-B4D2-4215-9F74-E9109B0A8153}]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers\{596AB062-B4D2-4215-9F74-E9109B0A8153}]

That is disabling the tab Previous versions as well.

But on my testsystem, I used a snapshot that's just the plain installation of Windows 11 22H2 without any change.
If on that system I change in Properties -> Details window the title field of a .jpg file, save it, change it to another value and click 'Previous versions, I get an empty field and the remark:
Previous versions come from the file history or restore points
So the previous versions will be stored somewhere on the system disk, where all previous versions of Windows are stored when you (or the system) make(s) a restore point. That's how I see it, but maybe I am totally wrong with that assumption...

As I normally don't ever use system restore points (I use images for restoring the system), in my system those previous versions are disabled anyway.

x BlueRobot said:

Yes but you'll have to do this programmatically via a COM interface it would seem.

Click to expand...

Yes. I think you're right.
I'm surprised there wouldn't be a third party utility to do it.

I researched this before and came to the conclusion that the list is not stored in the registry or any file outside of the files being tagged.

Remove a tag from the suggested list in the file properties "Tags" field

The list is generated on the fly from the metadata in similar files in the current folder and any folder that is indexed.

Not all fields display a dropdown list. I initially tested with "Subject" today and did not see a list. When I tested with "Tags", then I saw a dropdown list. In my tests, I have to type one character that matches the first character of any word that appears in other file's tags.

So, to clean up the tags, you'll need to search your drive(s) for any files (in the current folder or indexed locations) that contain the tag(s) you want to correct or eliminate and then edit the tags in those found files.

For example, here I created the tags dd1, dd2, and dd3 in another file in the same folder, but the other tags came from files that are in folders that have been indexed.

LesFerch said:

I researched this before and came to the conclusion that the list is not stored in the registry or any file outside of the files being tagged.

Remove a tag from the suggested list in the file properties "Tags" field

The list is generated on the fly from the metadata in similar files in the current folder and any folder that is indexed.

Not all fields display a dropdown list. I initially tested with "Subject" today and did not see a list. When I tested with "Tags", then I saw a dropdown list. In my tests, I have to type one character that matches the first character of any word that appears in other file's tags.

So, to clean up the tags, you'll need to search your drive(s) for any files (in the current folder or indexed locations) that contain the tag(s) you want to correct or eliminate and then edit the tags in those found files.

For example, here I created the tags dd1, dd2, and dd3 in another file in the same folder, but the other tags came from files that are in folders that have been indexed.

View attachment 87323

Click to expand...

Great reply, LesFerch.

That looks like the answer. The only problem is, you have to clear it from every file.
Also, if you decided to do it, you'd have to search the metadata.