Why are my Google Takeout photo dates wrong or set to today?

When you export photos from Google Takeout, Google strips original capture timestamps and stores them in separate JSON sidecars. Your computer displays the download or extraction date instead. TakeoutFix re-embeds the original JSON timestamps back into EXIF headers so photos sort chronologically.

How can I fix Google Takeout metadata offline on Windows or Mac?

You can use the TakeoutFix desktop app. On Windows, run the standalone TakeoutFix.exe directly with no installation. On macOS, open TakeoutFix.dmg. Both applications process files 100% locally on your computer with zero file uploads.

What is a take out fix or takeout fix?

A take out fix or takeout fix is the process of repairing missing EXIF metadata after downloading photos using Google Takeout. Google Takeout stores metadata separately in JSON sidecar files. TakeoutFix (also called TakeoutFixer) solves this automatically in your browser.

How do I fix metadata after Google Takeout?

Open TakeoutFix in your browser, select your Takeout folder containing both the image files and their .json sidecar files, then click Restore My Data. The tool automatically matches each photo to its JSON sidecar and writes the date, GPS, and EXIF data back into the file header. No installation or upload required.

What is a metadata fixer for Google Photos?

A metadata fixer for Google Photos reads the .json sidecar files created during a Google Takeout export and writes the stored metadata (date taken, GPS location, camera model) back into the photo EXIF header. TakeoutFix is a free metadata fixer and meta data fix tool that works entirely in your web browser.

What is a Google Takeout merger?

A Google Takeout merger is a tool that merges the photo and video binary files with their detached JSON metadata sidecar files produced by a Google Takeout export. TakeoutFix performs this merge locally on your device with no server, no upload, and no privacy risk.

Does TakeoutFix work as a meta data fixer?

Yes. TakeoutFix is both a metadata fixer and a meta data fixer. It repairs EXIF metadata that was stripped out of your photos and videos during a Google Takeout or Google Photos export.

About Our Project & Team

Preserving Digital Memories with
Privacy-First Engineering

TakeoutFix was founded to solve a frustrating problem faced by millions: when you download your photo archives from Google Takeout, your photos lose their capture dates, camera tags, and GPS coordinates. We built a fast, zero-upload tool to reunite them.

100% Local-First

Your personal photos and memories never leave your device. All parsing, file matching, and EXIF injection execute inside your browser sandbox via WebAssembly and Web Workers.

Lossless Integrity

We never recompress, re-encode, or alter your photo pixels. We directly write standard EXIF, IPTC, and QuickTime headers into file metadata segments with bit-for-bit preservation.

Multi-Platform Reach

Whether you prefer our zero-install web application or high-throughput standalone desktop utilities for Windows and macOS, we offer tools for libraries of any scale.

Why Was TakeoutFix Built?

Google Takeout is the primary tool Google provides for users exercising their data portability rights to export their stored Google Photos archives. However, instead of baking the capture timestamps, geolocation data, and camera settings directly into each media file's EXIF header, Google separates this crucial information into companion files ending in .json.

When you subsequently attempt to import these photos into Apple Photos, Synology Photos, Windows Photo Gallery, or Lightroom, these programs cannot read Google's proprietary JSON sidecars. As a consequence, thousands of irreplaceable family memories appear scrambled, all sharing the date you downloaded the zip archive instead of the year they were captured.

Traditional solutions required running complex Python scripts or terminal tools like ExifTool, which are intimidating and inaccessible for everyday users. TakeoutFix was engineered to provide an accessible, beautiful, and completely secure solution: a high-performance metadata restorer that runs right in your browser with no cloud uploads required.

Rahul Jena

Founder & Lead Software Engineer

A software engineer specializing in systems architecture, web technologies, and multimedia processing. Creator of the open-source GooglePhotosTakeout toolkit and the TakeoutFix client engine.

GitHub Profile Sponsor on GitHub

Our Engineering & Quality Standards

Extensive Format Testing: Our algorithms are rigorously verified across JPEG, PNG, WebP, Apple HEIC/HEIF, Canon CR2/CR3, Nikon NEF, Sony ARW, and MP4/MOV QuickTime files.
Edge Case Handling: We handle real-world Takeout anomalies including truncated JSON filenames (e.g., IMG_1234(1).JPG vs IMG_1234.JPG(1).json), edited suffixes, and timezone offsets.
Zero Telemetry of Personal Data: We never log, track, or collect file names, photo thumbnails, or EXIF metadata. Our servers only handle operational metrics and licensing.

Independent Organization Disclosure

Google Takeout™ and Google Photos™ are registered trademarks of Google LLC. Apple Photos™ and iCloud™ are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. TakeoutFix is an independent utility software project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or associated with Google LLC or Apple Inc.

For inquiries, press, or technical questions, please visit our Contact Page or review our Full Legal Disclaimer.

Preserving Digital Memories with Privacy-First Engineering