Guide
.suppl.json, ..json and other cut-off names
Google Takeout keeps file names to 51 characters. A JSON name is the photo's name plus .supplemental-metadata.json, so for any photo with a long name the end gets cut off, and it can be cut anywhere.
From the sample library, all cut to exactly 51 characters:
- Tram 28 climbing the hills in Alfama.jpgTram 28 climbing the hills in Alfama.jpg.suppl.jsonA 40-character name leaves room for
.suppl. - Birthday cake with candles, kitchen table.jpgBirthday cake with candles, kitchen table.jpg..jsonA 45-character name leaves only the dot.
- Screenshot_20180704-231045_Trail Maps & Compass.pngScreenshot_20180704-231045_Trail Maps & Compas.jsonLonger still: the cut lands inside the photo's own name, and the extension is gone.
Other endings you may see: .supplemental-metad.json, .supplemen.json, .sup.json, .s.json. They are all the same file, cut at a different point.
Why tools miss them
Matching by exact name can't work once the name is cut. A photo called Tram 28 climbing the hills in Alfama.jpg has no file called Tram 28 climbing the hills in Alfama.jpg.json or ...supplemental-metadata.json next to it, so it looks like it has no JSON.
How Takeoutfix matches them
- Any JSON whose name is the photo's name plus a dot and the start of
supplemental-metadata(including nothing at all, which gives..json) counts as that photo's JSON. - When the cut lands inside the photo's name, it matches by the longest name that the cut-off name starts with, within the same folder.
- Each JSON carries the photo's full name in its
titlefield. Takeoutfix reads it, so a cut-off or renamed file can still be matched by what Google called it, and the fixed copy gets its full name back when that name is safe on Windows, macOS and Linux. - Matching never pairs a photo with a JSON from another folder, except an album copy of the same file (same name and size).
Some files will still not match. The scan lists them with their names before you pay, and the report after the fix says for every file what was written and what wasn't.
Takeoutfix matches every photo and video in your Takeout to its JSON, writes the date, place and caption back into the files, and files a fixed copy by year and month. It runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded. The scan and 20 fixed files are free; the whole library is $9, once.
Scan your Takeout free