Google Photos dates wrong?

Fix the Wrong Date in Google Photos (Even 1,000+ Scans)

Google Photos sorts by the date saved inside each file, and a scan only knows the day it was scanned. Timeline Scan works out each photo’s real year, writes it into the file, and sends your photos to Google Photos in order.

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By Spencer Baker, founder · Last updated: August 24, 2026

How Timeline Scan fixes it

Real Dates, Written Into Your Files

✦

Upload the scans. We work out when each one was taken and save that date inside the file, so Google Photos sorts them on its own.

  1. Upload everything

    Fronts and backs, nothing sorted or renamed first.

  2. AI finds the real year

    Handwriting on the back, lab stamps, clues in the picture. You review the timeline; we write the date into each file.

  3. Into Google Photos, in order

    One click sends the fixed files straight to your library: nothing to download and upload again.

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Already uploaded the misdated scans? Delete those first: the fixed files arrive as new photos, not replacements. Rather do it by hand? Compare all 3 ways.

Why it happens

Why Every Scan Lands on the Wrong Date

  1. Paper has no date a computer can read

    A note on the back or an orange corner stamp is ink, not data.

  2. The scanner stamps scan day

    A scan is a brand-new file, so its capture date[3] is the moment you scanned it.

  3. Google Photos believes the file

    It sorts by that date[2], so a 1975 print files itself under today.

Your options

3 Ways to Fix Scanned Photo Dates in Google Photos

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All three work. Only two of them fix your actual files.

  • Edit dates in Google Photos

    A handful of photos whose dates you already know

    • Finds the dates for you
    • Whole archive at once one event at a time[1]
    • Written into your files display-only, by Google’s own note[1]
    • Survives a download or a new app

    Free[1]

    The steps

  • ExifTool

    You know every date and like a terminal

    • Finds the dates for you
    • Whole archive at once one command per pre-sorted folder
    • Written into your files
    • Survives a download or a new app

    Free, open source

    The command
  • Built for this

    Timeline Scan

    A shoebox of scans and nobody remembers the years

    • Finds the dates for you backs, lab stamps, visual clues; you review
    • Whole archive at once upload everything, review one timeline
    • Written into your files standard EXIF/XMP capture-date fields
    • Survives a download or a new app Google Photos, Immich, or a folder download

    Free trial, then per-photo pricing

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Fix #1 Edit the dates by hand in Google Photos a handful of photos
  1. On photos.google.com, select every photo from one event.
  2. Click More (the three-dot menu), then Edit date & time[1].
  3. Choose Shift dates & times (keeps the gaps between photos) or Set one date & time (same date for all)[1].
  4. Save, then repeat for the next event. In the phone apps: More → About → Edit next to the date.

The catch, in Google’s own words: “the edited date and time displays in Google Photos. But if you share the photo to other apps or download it, the photo may show the original date and time saved by your camera.”[1] Download your library, switch apps, or restore a backup, and the wrong dates come back.

Fix #2 Rewrite the files yourself with ExifTool you know the dates

The free command-line tool ExifTool writes a date into the files for good. One command per event folder, before uploading:

exiftool "-AllDates=1975:06:15 12:00:00" -overwrite_original ~/Scans/1975-beach-trip
  • Fixes the real EXIF fields: the date survives in any app, forever
  • Free and open source
  • You still work out, sort, and type every date yourself
  • Fix files before they first touch Google Photos, or the re-upload becomes a duplicate

Stuck on one print with no clue? Our free tool answers what year was this photo taken, one photo at a time.

Common questions

Scanned Photo Dates in Google Photos: FAQ

Why do all my scanned photos show today's date in Google Photos?

Google Photos sorts by the capture date stored inside each photo file's metadata. A scanner creates a brand-new file at the moment of scanning, so the only date inside that file is the scan date, or no date at all, in which case Google Photos falls back to timestamps like the day the file was uploaded[2]. Either way, a photo from 1975 files itself under the day you scanned or uploaded it. The photo isn't wrong; the metadata inside the file is.

Why does a photo show January 1, 1970 in Google Photos?

January 1, 1970 is the zero point computers count time from (the Unix epoch). When a photo file's date field is empty or zeroed out, apps that read it as a number get zero, which displays as January 1, 1970. The fix is the same as for any wrong date: write a real capture date into the file's metadata, or edit the date inside Google Photos.

How do I change the date of a scanned photo in Google Photos?

On photos.google.com, select the photo, click More (the three-dot menu), choose Edit date & time, and enter the correct date[1]. In the mobile apps, open the photo, tap More (the three-dot menu), then About, and tap Edit next to the date. Note Google's own caveat: the edit changes what Google Photos displays, but if you download or share the file it may still show the original date and time saved by your camera or scanner[1].

Can I fix the dates of many scanned photos at once in Google Photos?

Partly. On the web, select multiple photos and choose Edit date & time; Google Photos then offers Shift dates & times (keep the spacing between photos, move them all together) or Set one date & time (the same date for every selected photo)[1]. You still have to know each group's real date and repeat the process group by group. To fix an entire archive in one pass (including working out what the dates should be) the dates have to be written into the files themselves, which is what ExifTool (manually) or Timeline Scan (automatically) does.

If I edit dates inside Google Photos, are my actual photo files fixed?

No. Google's help page states that “the edited date and time displays in Google Photos. But if you share the photo to other apps or download it, the photo may show the original date and time saved by your camera.”[1] The fix lives in Google's database, not in your files: download the photos, switch photo apps, or restore from a backup, and the wrong dates come back. Correcting the metadata inside the files is the only fix that travels with your photos.

What's the best way to fix scanned photo dates before uploading to Google Photos?

Write the real capture date into each file's EXIF metadata before you upload. If you already know the dates, the free command-line tool ExifTool can stamp a folder at a time. If you don't know the dates (the usual case for a shoebox of prints) Timeline Scan estimates each photo's date from handwriting on the backs, lab-printed dates, and visual clues, writes the date into every file's standard EXIF/XMP fields, and can then add the photos to your Google Photos library already in date order.

Will re-uploading fixed files create duplicates in Google Photos?

It can. Google Photos recognizes duplicates only when a file is an exact copy; once you correct a file's metadata, the file is no longer byte-identical, so it uploads as a new photo alongside the misdated one. Delete the misdated uploads before re-uploading corrected files. If you use Timeline Scan's Google Photos export, upload your raw scans to Timeline Scan first and let the export be the photos' first arrival in Google Photos: then there's nothing to clean up.

Photos already on an iPhone? The Timeline Scan app fixes them in place inside Apple Photos: see changing a photo’s date on iPhone. Weighing tools? See the MyHeritage PhotoDater comparison.

Show your work

Sources

  1. Google Photos Help: “Edit your photos” (Computer tab; steps and quoted wording re-verified August 18, 2026). Documents the “Edit date & time” steps, the multi-select “Shift dates & times” / “Set one date & time” options, and the note that an edited date displays in Google Photos while a downloaded or shared file “may show the original date and time saved by your camera.”
  2. Google Photos Community: “Why does Google Photos change the dates of my pictures to ‘Today’ when uploaded?” (accessed July 6, 2026): one of many long-running threads where Product Experts explain that photos without a capture date in their metadata are sorted by other timestamps, such as the upload date.
  3. CIPA standard DC-008 (Exif), Standardization: Camera & Imaging Products Association. Defines the Exif capture-date field DateTimeOriginal as “the date and time when the original image data was generated.” For a scanned print, the image data is generated by the scanner, on scan day.

Google Photos™ is a trademark of Google LLC. Timeline Scan is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google. The library pictures on this page use sample photos, and the dialog shown under Fix #1 is an illustration, not a Google screenshot. Google Photos behavior and steps on this page were checked against Google's public help pages on August 18, 2026; if something here has gone out of date, tell us and we'll correct it.

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