EXIF to File Date
- Christian Wheel
- Jan 11, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 26, 2022
Change the filesystem date of JPG images to match the date stored in the EXIF metadata.
Years ago, I encountered a problem surrounding the excellent Google Photos service. One of my hard drives failed, and I needed to restore a number of photos that were lost in the crash. Google Photos performed perfectly, allowing me to re-download all my missing photos in bulk. But I could no longer sort the local copy of my photos by date. Since the date-stamp of all the photos downloaded from Google Photos was "today" (due to the filesystem date-stamping them at the moment they were downloaded), the original filesystem date information of the files was lost.
Luckily, jpg images have metadata, typically in the form of EXIF tags. Thankfully, the original date/time of these photos was in that metadata!
This presented an interesting challenge: How to read the date/time of the photo from the EXIF tags and use that to set the filesystem date/time for each image?
I wrote some quick code and got it all squared away for my purposes. But then I realized that I couldn't possibly be the only person with this problem, and a more general tool to accomplish this goal would be pretty cool to have, so I put together "EXIF to File Date."
It's pretty simple. You either drag your JPG images into the app window or add
them via a file dialog using the "Add Jpg Files" button in the top right corner. Once you have all your files added to the list, just click "Set Dates To EXIF" and the app will go through each JPG, pull out the date and time the photo was taken from the EXIF tags and set the filesystem date/time of the file to that time. Easy!
You can download and use EXIF to File Date for free on both Mac and Windows. However, the Mac version is only compiled for 32-bit since I wrote this so long ago. Hence, it will only work up to Catalina.
Your point about Google Photos resetting filesystem dates to 'today' upon re-download is incredibly relatable. I've encountered similar headaches trying to maintain chronological order in local archives after a cloud sync or recovery. It's a common oversight in many backup workflows. While your tool brilliantly solves the date-stamping issue, it also highlights the critical role of EXIF metadata in preserving photo integrity. For those looking to delve deeper into the various tags and information stored within their images, a good resource for inspecting EXIF metadata can be incredibly valuable.
I really appreciate you highlighting the common frustration of losing original filesystem dates after re-downloading photos, and how critical EXIF data is for restoring that chronological order. It's a problem many photographers and casual users alike encounter, and your "EXIF to File Date" tool sounds like a lifesaver. Beyond just dates, though, EXIF tags hold a treasure trove of information. For anyone looking to enrich their photo organization even further, especially when it comes to understanding where those cherished memories were made, exploring options for AI-powered photo location data extraction and analysis can provide an entirely new dimension to their digital archives.