Step by step
- Export: at takeout.google.com select only Google Photos, choose .zip and a part size (2, 4, 10 or 50 GB), and download every part.
- Fix: drop all parts above. Leave the options as they are unless you know you want something else, and click Fix and save.
- Extract: unpack the fixed ZIP(s) into one folder.
- Import on a Mac: open Photos, choose File → Import, pick the folder. If iCloud Photos is turned on in Photos settings, the imported photos then appear in iCloud by themselves.
- Without a Mac: upload the folder at icloud.com/photos (drag and drop), or use iCloud for Windows.
What makes the dates stick in Apple Photos
- JPEG: the date is written into the photo's EXIF, which Apple Photos reads first — this is the reliable part.
- HEIC from an iPhone and most camera videos already contain their date. A HEIC whose EXIF block has no date gets one; an MP4 or MOV whose header is empty or holds only the upload time gets the taken time there.
- PNG, GIF and other formats without a date inside: the tool sets their file date only. Apple Photos may fall back to the file's date for these, but check a few after import; you can correct a selection with Image → Adjust Date and Time in Photos.
Albums, duplicates, Live Photos
Takeout stores a copy of each photo in its year folder and in every album folder. Importing everything would create duplicates in Apple Photos, so for iCloud either tick Skip album copies of photos that are also in a year folder or choose Sort into YYYY/MM folders (identical files are kept once). Live Photos come out of Takeout as a still image plus a short video; both get the same date.
Frequently asked questions
Does this upload my photos to iCloud?
No. It only fixes the archive on your computer. You import the fixed files into Apple Photos (or icloud.com) yourself, so your Apple ID is never involved here.
Can I do this on an iPhone or iPad?
Fixing multi-gigabyte archives on a phone is not recommended. Use a computer to fix and extract, then import with Photos on a Mac, iCloud for Windows or icloud.com.
Which files get their date written inside?
JPEG photos get the date (and, if missing, the location) written into their EXIF data, the place photo apps read first. HEIC photos get the same in their EXIF block when they have one, as iPhone photos do; a HEIC without an EXIF block gets the file date only. MP4, MOV, M4V and 3GP videos get the date in their movie and track headers — the "creation time" video apps read — changed in place, without re-encoding. PNG, GIF, WebP, AVI, MKV and other formats are not modified: they get the date as their file date (the "modified" date) when you extract the fixed ZIP.
My Takeout has several 50 GB parts. Will this work?
It is built for that. The tool reads only each ZIP's table of contents and the small JSON files up front, then copies every file's compressed bytes straight into the new archive. For a file stored uncompressed in the ZIP it reads just the header it edits; only a compressed file it edits is unpacked in memory, one at a time (up to 256 MB). In Chrome and Edge the fixed archives are written directly to a folder you pick, so their size is limited only by your disk. Firefox and Safari build each fixed archive as a download; when one holds more than about 1 GB of rewritten files it is split into several ZIPs.
Are my photos uploaded?
No. The ZIP files are read by your browser on your own computer and the fixed archive is written there too. Nothing is sent to a server — you can disconnect from the internet after the page has loaded and it still works.