Try it now: AI Metadata Inspector
Free, no login — upload an image and read its embedded metadata in your browser.
What to know
Most social and chat platforms re-compress images when they are posted, producing a new file that drops the original PNG text chunks and other embedded metadata. An image you save from a feed or a Discord channel is that re-encoded copy, so it has no prompt inside it.
Recovery is therefore about the source, not the download: only a copy that predates the upload — or the creator’s own history — still holds the prompt.
How to recover it
- 1
Verify the download is stripped
Check the saved file in the AI Metadata Inspector; a re-encoded social download will show no prompt chunk.
- 2
Ask for the original file
If someone else posted it, the untouched original export they generated still contains the prompt — the feed copy does not.
- 3
Match by Job ID where available
For Midjourney images, a Job ID visible in the post or filename can be looked up in the creator’s history.
Sharing from a catalog that keeps the original alongside a privacy-safe export means you can post publicly and still hold the prompt-bearing master.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common questions.
Related recovery guides
Never lose a prompt again
Numonic extracts the prompt, model, seed, and settings from every AI image on import and keeps them searchable — so recovery stops being a rescue mission and the prompt is always attached to the work.