Google Takeout Photos Wrong Date? The JSON Problem, Explained
You exported your whole Google Photos library with Takeout, opened the folder, and it's chaos: photos dated the day you downloaded them, mysterious .json files everywhere, and your timeline destroyed. Nothing is lost. Your dates are just sitting in the wrong place.
What Google Takeout actually gives you
For many photos, Takeout delivers two files: the image itself, and a small JSON sidecar file next to it (something like IMG_2034.jpg.json naming varies). Much of your metadata, including the photo-taken timestamp, description, and sometimes GPS location, lives in that JSON file rather than inside the image. Meanwhile the image file's own dates often reflect the export, not the original moment.
Import that folder into Apple Photos, a Synology, or anything else, and the app reads the image files, finds export-day dates, and shreds your chronology.
The fix: merge the JSON back into the photos
The metadata needs to be read from each JSON file and written into its matching image file's EXIF fields. Once that's done, your photos carry their real dates internally and sort correctly everywhere, permanently. The options:
- ExifTool (free, command line). Technical users script this: read each sidecar, write the timestamp into the image. Completely doable and completely manual; matching JSON files to images has fiddly edge cases (truncated filenames, duplicates with "(1)" suffixes, edited copies).
- Google Photos Takeout Helper / GPTH (free, open source). A community tool built for exactly this. It's a program you download and run; comfort with running utilities required.
- Paid desktop apps. At least one commercial product exists specifically for fixing Takeout exports, sold as a download for Mac/Windows/Linux. Friendlier than the free tools; you're installing software and paying for the convenience.
- PhotoDate (what we're building). Point your browser at the Takeout folder; it matches JSON sidecars to images, including the annoying duplicate and renamed cases, shows you the before/after on a timeline, and writes corrected copies. No install, no upload, works offline. Free early access.
Watch out for these Takeout quirks
- Duplicate filenames. Files like
IMG_2034(1).jpgneed to match to the right JSON, a classic silent-mismatch source. - Split archives. Large libraries export as multiple ZIPs; a photo and its JSON can land in different ZIPs. Extract everything into one folder tree before fixing.
- Edited photos. Google sometimes exports both original and edited versions; decide which you're keeping before you fix dates.
- Videos. Video metadata works differently from JPEG EXIF; most tools (including PhotoDate's first version) handle photos more completely than videos. Check what your tool supports.
Frequently asked questions
Why are my Google Takeout photos dated wrong?
Google Takeout often stores a photo's real date-taken timestamp in a separate JSON sidecar file instead of inside the image itself. The image file's own metadata usually reflects the export date, so photo apps sort everything by download day instead of the real date.
What is the .json file next to my Google Takeout photos?
It's a metadata sidecar file Google exports alongside each photo, named after the image (for example IMG_2034.jpg.json). It holds the original timestamp, description, and often GPS location that didn't make it into the image file.
How do I merge Google Takeout JSON metadata back into my photos?
Each JSON sidecar needs to be matched to its image file, then its timestamp (and optionally GPS and description) written into the image's EXIF data. Options include ExifTool scripting, Google Photos Takeout Helper (GPTH), paid desktop fixers, or a browser-based tool like PhotoDate that matches sidecars automatically, including duplicate-suffix cases.
Does Google Takeout include GPS location in the JSON files?
Often yes. Alongside the photo-taken timestamp, Takeout's JSON sidecars frequently include GPS coordinates and the description you or Google added, all of which need to be merged back into the image file to be preserved.
Takeout export in shambles?
PhotoDate merges your JSON metadata back into your photos, in your browser, with nothing uploaded. Early access is free.
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