Carbon removes chlorine, and it is what carbon does best. The harder and more useful question is whether yours is still doing it, because carbon's chlorine capacity expires with no discoloration, no smell and no change in flow, and a filter that stopped working four months ago looks exactly like one fitted last week.
Why exhaustion is invisible
Chlorine removal is a chemical reaction at the carbon surface that converts chlorine to chloride and consumes the media in the process, so capacity is a finite total volume rather than a condition you can see. Worse, taste is not a reliable indicator: the last of a spent bed still handles the small amount that crosses the taste threshold after it has stopped removing the bulk, so the water can taste fine while a good deal of chlorine is getting through.
How to actually verify it
Test. A cheap chlorine test kit or strip on the filtered outlet answers the question in a minute, and it is worth doing when the filter is new to establish that it works, then periodically to catch the point where it stops. Any detectable chlorine on the outlet of a filter meant to remove it means the media is spent. On a reverse osmosis system this matters more than taste, because chlorine reaching the membrane destroys it.
What changes how long it lasts
The volume of water passed and how much chlorine was in it, which is why a household in a heavily dosed area gets less life from the same cartridge. Contact time matters for performance rather than life: a small cartridge at high flow removes less per pass than a large bed at the same flow. And chloramine, which many utilities dose in place of free chlorine, is deliberately more stable and defeats standard carbon, needing catalytic media instead.
Knowing which disinfectant you have
The EPA requires every community water system to publish an annual Consumer Confidence Report and maintains a finder for them, and the report names the disinfectant used. Check it before buying media, because fitting standard carbon against chloramine is the most common reason a system underperforms its specification while appearing to work. Then change cartridges on stated volume, not on appearance. Our whole house filter cost guide covers sizing a carbon bed properly.
Questions people ask about does a carbon filter remove chlorine
Does carbon remove chlorine?
Yes, and it is what carbon does best. The reaction converts chlorine to chloride and consumes the media as it goes.
Can I tell by taste that it has stopped?
No. A spent bed still handles the taste threshold after it has stopped removing the bulk of the chlorine load.
How do I verify it is working?
A cheap chlorine test on the filtered outlet. Any detectable chlorine there means the media is spent.
Does it work on chloramine?
Standard carbon handles chloramine poorly. Catalytic carbon is needed where the utility doses chloramine rather than free chlorine.