Free tool

Post a 360 photo to Facebook: check its 360 metadata first

Drop your 360 photos here to check the two things that files from 360 cameras have in common: the 2:1 shape and the 360 metadata (Photo Sphere XMP) the cameras write. When the metadata is missing or wrong, the tool adds it to a JPEG without re-encoding the image, and you download the photo ready to post. Meta's help does not say what Facebook reads in the file, so posting it is the final check.

Your photo never leaves your device: it is opened and processed in this page, and nothing is uploaded.

Drop your 360 photos here

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JPEG in the 2:1 shape 360 cameras export, one or several. PNG, WebP and HEIC are converted to JPEG.

What makes a photo a 360 photo

A 360 photo is an ordinary JPEG. Meta's help says that photos from 360 cameras, Photo Sphere apps and stitching software such as PTGui are turned into 360 photos automatically when you share them on Facebook. Meta's help does not say what in the file Facebook reads. What those files have in common:

  • Their shape: a full 360 photo (equirectangular) is twice as wide as it is tall, for example 6000 x 3000 or 8192 x 4096.
  • A small block of metadata inside the file, which Google documents as Photo Sphere XMP (GPano). It says the projection is equirectangular, turns on the panorama viewer and gives the size of the full panorama in pixels. Google Maps reads it, and so do most 360 viewers.
  • When a photo loses that block on the way, or the block gives a size that no longer matches the photo, viewers that rely on it show the photo flat or cut off. The tool puts the block back as a 360 camera writes it. 360 photographers and tool makers report that Facebook looks for this block too, but Meta's help does not say so: post the photo to see.

How to post a 360 photo on Facebook

These are the steps from Meta's help article "Upload or edit 360 photos on Facebook" (read on 28 October 2026). Meta gives them for the Facebook app on iPhone and Android, and says to log into the app to upload or edit a 360 photo. Meta's help also says that photos from 360 cameras (such as Ricoh Theta or Samsung Gear 360), Photo Sphere apps and stitching software like PTGui are converted into 360 photos automatically when you share them.

  • Put the fixed photo on your phone as a file: AirDrop, a cable or a cloud drive. Sending it to yourself as a photo in a messaging app usually shrinks it and removes the metadata again.
  • Open the Facebook app and tap Photo/video at the top of your Feed or your timeline.
  • Select the 360 photo. Tap and drag it to the view you want people to see first.
  • Choose the audience and tap Post. If you would rather post it as a regular photo, Meta's article says to tap the button in the lower right before posting.
  • Our advice: Meta's steps include dragging the 360 photo to the view you want. If the app does not let you drag it, it is probably not being treated as a 360 photo; check the file here again.
  • Meta also notes that a panorama wider than 100 degrees may be turned into a 360 photo automatically, and that you can choose to show it as a regular photo instead.

How to publish a 360 photo on Google Maps

Google's help article "Create & publish Photo Spheres to Google Maps" asks you to check these requirements before you publish: 7.5 MP or larger (3,840 x 1,920 pixels), the 2:1 shape, and no more than 75 MB. 3,840 x 1,920 is 7.4 megapixels, so the tool checks the pixel size Google gives. You publish it the same way as a flat photo, with the Google Maps app on Android or in a browser on a computer. For each 2:1 JPEG, the tool shows whether it meets those requirements. Google's guide to the 360 metadata ("Photo Sphere XMP Metadata") adds that Google Maps needs the compass direction the photo faces. Many 360 cameras write it; the tool keeps it when it is there and tells you when it is not, but cannot work it out from the photo.

Why the 360 metadata goes missing

  • Photo editors: when you export a photo, editors write only the metadata the export settings allow, and some do not carry the 360 fields over at all. In Lightroom, check the Metadata section of the export window; in Photoshop, the Metadata setting of Export As or Save for Web.
  • Resizing: an editor that resizes the photo can keep the old metadata, which then gives the wrong size. Google and the viewers that rely on the metadata may then show the photo flat or cut off. The tool spots it and corrects the size.
  • Messaging and email apps shrink photos to send them faster and usually remove the metadata on the way.
  • Websites and apps that compress or convert photos write a new file, often without the metadata.
  • Screenshots and crops are new pictures: they are no longer a full 360 photo, and no metadata can fix that.

How to keep it next time

  • Export the 360 photo from your camera's own app or desktop software: they write the 360 metadata.
  • If you edit it, export with all metadata, at the same size, and check the result here before you post.
  • Move photos as files (AirDrop, a cable, a cloud drive, or as a document in a messaging app), not as photos in a chat.
  • Keep the original from the camera until the photo is published and shows as 360.

Questions

Is my photo uploaded?

No. The photos are opened and checked in this page, on your device, and the new file is written here too. Nothing is sent to Vistura or anywhere else, and nothing is kept after you close the page.

Does adding the metadata lower the quality?

No. For a JPEG, the tool copies the compressed image byte for byte and only adds or replaces the metadata block (the photo's old XMP block, with any title, copyright or editing history in it, is replaced by the 360 block; EXIF stays unless you tick the option), so the pixels are exactly the same. A PNG, WebP or HEIC photo has to become a JPEG first, so that one is saved again at high quality.

My photo still shows flat on Facebook. What else can I check?

Make sure you posted the downloaded file (its name ends in -360.jpg) and that it did not pass through a messaging app on the way. Post it from the Facebook app, as Meta's help describes. If 360 photos from other people do not turn either, try another browser or device.

Is there a size limit for 360 photos on Facebook?

Meta's help page on 360 photos gives none (checked on 28 October 2026), so the tool shows the size of each photo but does not judge it against a Facebook number. Google Maps does publish its requirements: 3,840 x 1,920 pixels or more (Google writes "7.5 MP or larger"), the 2:1 shape, and 75 MB at most.

What does "also remove location and camera data" do?

It leaves out the EXIF and IPTC blocks, where cameras and phones write the GPS position, the camera model, its serial number and the date. The colour profile stays, so colours do not change. If the photo has a rotation flag, the tool keeps only that flag, so the photo does not turn.

Which files work?

JPEG photos in the 2:1 shape that 360 cameras and apps export, several at once. PNG and WebP are converted to JPEG, and so is HEIC in browsers that can open it, such as Safari. Several photos download together as one ZIP file.

Or share it as a tour: no metadata needed

Vistura opens any 2:1 JPEG, PNG or WebP photo of up to 25 MB as 360, with or without the metadata, and the photos in your tours are stored without the GPS position. Add a 360 photo of each room, connect the rooms and share one link with buyers. The free plan has 3 active tours, with Vistura branding.

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