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Import a Google Takeout into Apple Photos with the right dates

Photos show the wrong date after Google Takeout? This puts the real date taken, the location and, if you want, the caption back inside every photo and video.

1
Add your Takeout
ZIP files or the extracted folder
2
Check the matches
Free, offline, nothing is written
3
Write the fixed files
To a folder or a ZIP

Drop your Takeout .zip files or the extracted folder

Add every part at once (takeout-…-001.zip, -002.zip …): a photo's JSON can sit in another part.

Free: scan and preview everything, fix up to 25 files. Day Pass or Pro: unlimited. See plans

Runs in your browser. Your photos never leave this device.

The only request during a job checks your plan. It sends the tool name and a file-count range, never file names or contents.

Check it yourself: open your browser's network tab while the tool runs, or switch off Wi-Fi after the page has loaded. The job still works.

How to download your Takeout

Omnvert is not affiliated with Google, Meta or Microsoft. Works with Google Takeout exports.

Photos on a Mac arranges All Photos in chronological order using the date and time saved with each photo and video. In a Google Photos Takeout many files carry that date only in a separate JSON file, so they pile up on the day you downloaded the archive. This page opens the fixer with the Takeout folders kept as they are: write the dates back first, then import the fixed folder.

Photos reads
The capture date saved in each file
The fixer writes
DateTimeOriginal and its offset in JPEGs, creation time in MP4 and MOV
Import with
File > Import, or drag the folder onto the Photos window
Copied unchanged
HEIC, PNG, WebP, GIF and RAW, in this version

This page opens the fixer with the Takeout folders kept as they are. Checked: October 2026.

Which date Photos shows

The Info window in Photos shows the date and time a photo or video was captured, read from the metadata saved with it, and All Photos follows that order. Apple does not say which tag wins when a file carries several dates, so the fixer writes the one cameras write: DateTimeOriginal, together with OffsetTimeOriginal so the moment is exact whatever time zone your Mac is in. Videos get the creation time in their MP4 or MOV header.

A date the camera already wrote is kept unless you choose to replace it, so pictures taken on an iPhone or a camera keep their own date. Files the fixer cannot date are listed in its report; after importing, select them in Photos and choose Image > Adjust Date and Time.

Folders and albums

A Takeout has one folder per year and one per album. When the folder you import contains other folders, Apple's import window offers a Keep Folder Organization checkbox and the destination has to be the library, because Photos cannot import a group of folders into a single album. Dragging one folder from the Finder onto the Photos window creates an album with that folder's name.

The fixer skips album copies by default (the same photo in an album folder and in a year folder), so the library gets each photo once. If you want no folder structure at all, pick "All in one folder" in the fixer's options before writing.

Copied into the library, or left in place

Photos copies what you import into its library unless "Copy items to the Photos library" is turned off in Photos > Settings > General. With it off, the files stay where they are as referenced files, and Apple notes that referenced files are not stored in iCloud. If you use iCloud Photos, leave the setting on, or use File > Consolidate later to copy referenced files into the library.

How to do it

  1. 1Add every .zip part of your Takeout below, or the folder you extracted them to.
  2. 2Check the preview and pick the time zone the photos were taken in, if it is not this computer's.
  3. 3Write the fixed files to a folder (Chrome, Edge) or as a ZIP; unzip the ZIP if you chose that.
  4. 4In Photos on your Mac, choose File > Import, select the fixed folder and click Review for Import.
  5. 5Tick Keep Folder Organization if you want the Takeout folders, then click Import All New Photos.
  6. 6Open a few photos in the Info window and check their date and time.
Fix the dates first

Known pitfalls

  • Live Photos: Google exports a Live Photo as two files, a still (HEIC or JPG) and a short MOV, with one JSON file for both, and Photos itself exports a Live Photo as two separate files too. The fixer dates the MOV from that shared JSON; a HEIC still is copied unchanged in this version, with whatever date is already inside it. Apple does not document how separate files are paired again on import, so look at a few Live Photos after importing.
  • HEIC, PNG, WebP and GIF files are copied unchanged in this version. A screenshot or saved image with no date inside gives Photos nothing to read; the report lists those files so you can date them with Image > Adjust Date and Time.
  • HEIC files need macOS High Sierra or later to be viewed or edited.
  • Uploading through iCloud.com instead of importing on a Mac also adds the photos to iCloud Photos on all your devices. The fixed dates are inside the files either way, so fix them before either route.
  • Photos taken on a trip land a few hours off if the fixer used the wrong time zone. Google stores the moment in UTC; add that folder again on its own with the trip's time zone.

Questions

Do I have to unzip the Takeout first?

Not for the fixer: add the .zip parts as they are. Photos imports files, so either write the fixer's output to a folder or unzip its ZIP before choosing File > Import.

Can I fix the dates in Photos instead?

For a handful of photos, yes: select them and choose Image > Adjust Date and Time. For a whole Takeout that means finding each date by hand, while the JSON files already have every one of them.

Are my photos uploaded to Omnvert?

No. The fixer runs in your browser tab: the archives are read from your disk and the fixed files are written back to your disk.

What does it cost?

Scanning and the full preview are free. Writing is free for up to 25 files per job; one credit covers a whole job, and a Day Pass or Pro covers unlimited jobs.

Sources

The app-specific steps and behaviour above were checked against these official pages:

Omnvert is not affiliated with Google, Meta or Microsoft. Apple, Mac and iCloud are trademarks of Apple Inc. Omnvert is not affiliated with Apple.