TAKEOUT DATE AUDIT AND REPAIR
Google Photos Metadata Fixer
Pair exported JPEG files with their Google Photos JSON sidecars, see exactly which dates are missing or different, then repair copies without uploading your library.
Choose an extracted Takeout folder
Add the photos and JSON sidecars together. Nothing is uploaded, and the originals are never modified.
Choose a folder or files to begin.
Review before changing copies
| Media file | Embedded Date Taken | Takeout JSON date | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| No files analyzed yet. | |||
The ZIP contains only repaired JPEG copies plus the audit CSV. It does not duplicate photos that already match or files that need manual review.
What this metadata fixer changes
The tool reads photoTakenTime.timestamp from each matching Takeout JSON sidecar. For a JPEG copy it can write EXIF DateTimeOriginal, DateTimeDigitized, and the main image date. Compressed image pixels are not decoded or recompressed.
Safe repair fills a missing Date Taken field and leaves an existing conflicting date alone. JSON wins overwrites the three JPEG date fields when they differ. Audit only makes no image output. Every mode reports unmatched, invalid, unsupported, and ambiguous files.
Matching first uses the relative folder and standard sidecar names such as IMG_1234.jpg.json and IMG_1234.jpg.supplemental-metadata.json. It then uses the sidecar's own title only when that identifies one file in the same folder. The tool refuses ambiguous guesses.
Safety, privacy, and browser limits
- Your selected files stay in this browser. There is no account connection or server upload.
- Downloads are new copies. This page cannot overwrite the originals on your disk.
- Only JPEG EXIF dates are rewritten. PNG, WebP, HEIC, GIF, and video files appear in the audit but remain unchanged.
- Use smaller batches for very large libraries. Browser ZIP creation needs enough free memory for the repaired copies.
- Keep the original Takeout archive until you verify dates in the photo application that will import the repaired copies.
Why an audit comes before repair
Google states that downloaded photos and videos keep original timestamps in embedded metadata, while additional information that did not come from the original file is exported in a secondary JSON file. A newly assigned operating-system file date is therefore not proof that EXIF is missing.
Source reviewed September 17, 2026: Google Photos Help: download your data and metadata behavior.
Questions
Why does the tool show a conflict instead of fixing it automatically?
An existing camera date and a Google Photos sidecar date can represent different edits or time-zone assumptions. Safe mode preserves the embedded value so you can review the difference before choosing JSON wins.
Why do I need a UTC offset?
The JSON timestamp identifies an absolute instant. Standard EXIF date fields contain a calendar time but usually no time zone. The offset controls which wall time is written. Use the offset that applied where the photo was taken, not necessarily where you are now.
Will this fix Windows or macOS file dates?
The ZIP entry receives the Takeout date, but extraction software and operating systems may assign their own file-system dates. The reliable repair performed here is the embedded JPEG EXIF date.
Can I process the Takeout ZIP directly?
No. Extract it first. This keeps folder-aware matching visible and avoids loading a large archive plus its repaired output into browser memory at the same time.