How to Edit and Correct Date, Time, and Location in Google Photos

Google Photos relies heavily on Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF) metadata embedded inside pictures and videos to arrange your timeline chronologically and plot trips on geographical maps. However, when you import older scanned family photographs, receive media forwarded through messaging apps like WhatsApp that strip metadata, or download images from digital cameras configured with incorrect clock batteries, files often end up indexed under the wrong years or locations.

Fortunately, Google Photos provides native tools on both the web and mobile apps to manually edit dates, times, time zones, and geographical location tags, restoring chronological order to your personal library.

Editing Date and Time in Google Photos on the Web

The web interface (photos.google.com) offers the most powerful metadata editing tools, including the ability to shift dates across hundreds of photos simultaneously.

Editing a Single Photo on Desktop

1. Open your browser and navigate to photos.google.com.
2. Click to open the photo or video containing incorrect date details.
3. Click the Info icon (the circular "i" icon in the top-right toolbar), or press i on your keyboard.
4. The metadata pane expands on the right side of the screen.
5. Hover your mouse over the Date and Time field and click the Pencil (Edit) icon.
6. In the pop-up dialogue, select the correct day on the calendar, enter the precise time, and select the correct time zone.
7. Click Save. Google Photos immediately moves the photo into its proper chronological position on your timeline.

Batch Editing Dates Across Multiple Photos

If you recently scanned a vintage photo album or your camera clock was off by an entire day:

1. In the main Google Photos grid, hover over each photo and click the checkmark in the upper-left corner of the thumbnail to select multiple items.
2. In the top blue selection toolbar, click the More options (three vertical dots) icon.
3. Select Edit date & time.
4. Choose your update method:
   • Shift dates & times: Preserves the relative time interval between photos while shifting the entire sequence forward or backward by a specific number of hours or days.
   • Set one date & time: Assigns the exact same timestamp to every selected file.
5. Click Save to batch-update the selected media.

Editing Date and Time in the Google Photos Mobile App

You can also correct timestamps directly on Android and iOS devices:

1. Open the Google Photos app on your smartphone.
2. Tap the photo you wish to modify.
3. Swipe up on the photo (or tap the three vertical dots in the upper-right corner).
4. Locate the date and time line directly beneath the description box.
5. Tap the Pencil (Edit) icon next to the timestamp.
6. Adjust the date and time using the scroll wheel or calendar picker.
7. Tap Save to confirm.

Adding and Correcting Geographic Location Tags

If images lack GPS coordinates or have incorrect geotags assigned:

Adding or Changing Location on Desktop

1. Open the photo on photos.google.com and press i to open the Info pane.
2. Look for the Where was this taken? section (or click the existing map preview).
3. Click the Pencil (Edit) icon next to the location field.
4. Type the name of the landmark, city, or street address into the search box.
5. Select the matching location from the Google Maps suggestions dropdown.
6. The photo is now pinned to that coordinate and appears within your Google Photos interactive map explore view.

Adjusting Location on Android and iPhone

1. In the mobile app, swipe up on any photo to open its details sheet.
2. If no location is present, tap Add a location. If an estimated location exists, tap the Pencil icon next to the map.
3. Search for the venue or city and select it from the list.
4. To completely remove an incorrect location without replacing it, tap Remove location.

Understanding Cloud vs Original File Metadata

Keep in mind how Google Photos handles metadata modifications:

• Changes made to date, time, and location within Google Photos update the cloud library and timeline organisation immediately.
• However, modifying metadata in Google Photos does not permanently overwrite the hardcoded binary EXIF tags within original raw files stored on your local phone storage or camera SD cards.
• If you export images via Google Takeout, the corrected metadata is provided in associated JSON sidecar files rather than embedded directly into original image headers.