Why Google Photos Can't Bulk Edit Dates (And What Actually Works)
You selected 400 scanned photos in Google Photos, looked for "edit date," and found you can change them exactly one at a time, on the website only. You're not missing a setting. The feature doesn't exist. Here's what to do instead.
The limitation, plainly
Google Photos lets you edit a single photo's date and time through the web interface (open photo → three-dot menu → edit date). Batch selection offers no date editing, and the mobile apps historically haven't offered date editing at all. Users have been asking for bulk date editing in Google's own support forums for years, across multiple long-running threads, without the feature appearing.
At 400 mis-dated scans and roughly 30 seconds per photo, that's over three hours of clicking. At 4,000 photos, it's a lost weekend. One at a time is not a real option for scans.
Why the real fix is in the files, not the app
Google Photos sorts by the date embedded in each photo file's EXIF metadata. When you edit a date inside Google Photos, you're mostly fixing Google's copy of that information. If you fix the EXIF metadata in the files themselves and then upload, every app gets it right: Google Photos, Apple Photos, your backup drive, whatever you use in ten years. The correction travels with the photos.
So the working strategy for large batches is: fix the files first, then upload.
Your options for fixing dates in the files
- ExifTool (free, command line). The gold standard: it can set or shift "date taken" on thousands of files in one command. The catch is that it's a terminal tool with no preview; comfortable for technical users, intimidating for everyone else.
- Desktop EXIF editors (installs, often paid). Friendlier interfaces over the same idea; you install software and point it at folders.
- Online EXIF editors (caution). Some websites edit photo dates, but they work by uploading your photos to their servers. For family photo libraries, think carefully before sending them anywhere.
- PhotoDate (what we're building). Batch date editing on a visual timeline, in your browser, with nothing uploaded. Select a whole batch of scans, set "summer 1988," save corrected copies. Free early access here.
Special case: your photos came FROM Google
If your mis-dated photos are a Google Takeout export (you downloaded your library and the dates broke), that's a different problem with a different fix: Takeout often strips dates into separate JSON files that need merging back. Full explanation: Google Takeout photos wrong date.
Frequently asked questions
Can Google Photos bulk edit dates?
No. Google Photos only lets you edit the date and time on one photo at a time through the website's three-dot menu. There's no batch-selection date editor, and it's been a standing feature request in Google's own support forums for years.
How do I change the date on multiple Google Photos at once?
You can't inside Google Photos itself for large batches. The reliable route is fixing the date-taken (EXIF) metadata in the photo files before uploading, using ExifTool, a desktop EXIF editor, or a browser tool like PhotoDate, then uploading the corrected copies.
I already uploaded mis-dated photos to Google Photos. What now?
Fix the dates in your local copies of the files, upload the corrected set, then delete the mis-dated versions from Google Photos. It's more work than fixing files before the first upload, which is why doing it upfront matters.
Hundreds of photos to re-date?
PhotoDate fixes them in batches, in your browser, without uploading a single photo. Early access is free.
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