Guides

Fixing a Google Photos Takeout

A Takeout keeps each photo's date, place and caption in a separate JSON file, and the way those files are named keeps changing. These pages explain how to get the dates and places back, with the free ExifTool commands where there are some, and each naming pattern with real names from the Takeoutfix sample library (a synthetic library, no real photos).

Fixing the dates, places and the move

• Google Takeout photos have the wrong date: why, and how to fix it

  Photos from a Google Takeout show the export day as their date. Why it happens, the free ExifTool command that writes the real dates back, and a no-command-line way.

• Google Takeout JSON files: what they are and what to do with them

  Every photo in a Google Photos Takeout comes with a .json file. What is in it, whether you can delete it, and how to merge the date, place and caption back into the photo.

• Google Photos Takeout is missing GPS locations: how to get them back

  Locations you see in Google Photos can vanish after a Takeout export. Where Takeout keeps them, the ExifTool command that writes them back, and how to skip the 0, 0 entries.

• Move Google Photos to iCloud and keep the dates

  Two ways to move Google Photos to iCloud Photos: Google's direct transfer, and Takeout with the dates written into the files. What each keeps, and the steps for both.

• A Metadata Fixer alternative that runs in your browser

  Metadata Fixer and Takeoutfix both write Google Takeout dates and places back into your photos. How they differ: desktop app or browser, license or one payment per library, and the free ExifTool route.

• A Google Photos Takeout Helper alternative without the command line

  Google Photos Takeout Helper (GPTH) is free and open source. Which version to use, what it does, and a browser alternative for people who don't want a terminal.

File names and fields in a Takeout

• What .supplemental-metadata.json means in Google Takeout

  Since 2024, Google Takeout names each photo's JSON file IMG_1234.jpg.supplemental-metadata.json. What is in it, why older tools miss it, and how to get the dates back into your photos.

• .suppl.json, ..json and other cut-off names in Google Takeout

  Google Takeout cuts file names at 51 characters, so JSON files end up named .suppl.json, .s.json or ..json. How to match them to their photos.

• photoTakenTime vs creationTime in a Google Takeout JSON

  Which date in a Google Photos Takeout JSON is the capture date, what creationTime and geoData mean, and how the timestamp becomes an EXIF date in your time zone.

• Apple Photos shows the wrong date after importing a Google Takeout

  Why photos from Google Takeout land on the export day in Apple Photos, and how to write the real capture dates into the files before importing.

• Moving from Google Photos to Apple Photos with the dates intact

  Export your library with Google Takeout, put the dates, places and captions back into the files, and import it into Apple Photos and iCloud, step by step.

• -edited copies, (1) duplicates and album copies in Google Takeout

  What IMG_1234-edited.jpg, IMG_1234(1).jpg and repeated album folders are in a Google Photos Takeout, and how to keep one clean copy of each photo.