How to edit dates on photos when your camera, phone, or cloud shows the wrong time?

This guide explains EXIF dates, file timestamps, and why they can differ. It covers iPhone, Google Photos, desktop apps, and power tools like ExifTool.

You’ll get step-by-step fixes for single images and bulk corrections. I’ll also show when to shift times and when to set exact dates, plus simple backup rules.

Follow short checklists, screenshots, and tested commands to verify changes. Read on to get your photo timeline correct and searchable.

Understanding EXIF metadata and timestamps in photos

If you have ever wondered how your phone or camera knows when a picture was taken, the answer lives inside EXIF metadata. EXIF is a bundle of hidden notes saved inside many image files, and the capture time is one of the most important notes. Once you understand what is stored there, how to edit dates on photos becomes easy and less risky.

The key timestamp you will touch is DateTimeOriginal, which records the exact moment of capture. You may also see DateTimeDigitized for the moment a digital copy was made, and ModifyDate or CreateDate for when software last saved the file. These are different from your computer’s file system dates like Date Created or Date Modified, which affect sorting in folders but do not always change the in-photo metadata.

Most JPEG, HEIC, and many RAW formats carry EXIF inside the file, so their dates can be read and updated. Plain PNG files and some scanned images often do not have EXIF, so apps may not let you edit their capture date directly. In those cases you may rely on sidecar metadata or adjust only the file system dates.

Wrong dates happen for many reasons, including a camera clock set to the wrong year, flying across time zones, copying through backup tools that reset file dates, or scanning old prints with no original timestamp. Knowing the cause helps you decide whether to set an exact new date or shift everything by a number of hours.

You can inspect metadata quickly without special tools. On macOS, use Finder’s Get Info or the Photos app info panel. On Windows, open Properties then the Details tab, or use the Photos app info drawer. For deeper checks, ExifTool, Adobe Bridge, Lightroom, or mobile EXIF viewers show every date tag clearly and consistently.

Before editing, make a simple safety plan. Backup your originals to another folder or drive, note the current dates for reference, and decide whether you will change EXIF dates, file system dates, or both. If you want a broader primer, this guide to photo metadata is a helpful companion for newcomers.

How to set or change the date a photo was taken

Here is the core of how to edit dates on photos in a way that works across many devices and apps. You can use a quick built‑in editor, a desktop metadata tool for full control, or adjust only the file system dates for sorting. Pick the method that matches your goal and comfort level.

The quick method uses the info panel in common photo apps. Open the photo, look for an “i” info button or a three‑dot menu, choose Edit or Adjust Date & Time, set the new date and time, then save. Most gallery and library apps follow this pattern, whether on a phone, a desktop photo manager, or a web viewer.

For more granular control, use a desktop metadata editor. Tools such as ExifTool GUIs, XnView MP, PhotoME, or ACDSee let you edit DateTimeOriginal directly, or update AllDates so capture, digitized, and modify dates stay in sync. Always work on copies first, and double‑check a few files before applying changes in bulk.

Sometimes you also want to fix how files sort in your operating system. Changing EXIF alone will not always reorder files in Finder or Explorer. If you need that, update the file Creation and Modified timestamps too, ideally copying them from DateTimeOriginal so everything lines up.

Use this simple checklist for any method. Backup originals first, even if the tool promises safety. Inspect the current EXIF and file timestamps so you know your starting point. Decide whether you need an absolute change, like setting a scanned print to 1998, or a relative shift, like adding 7 hours after a flight. Apply the change to one test image, then to a selection or a whole folder. Verify in a metadata viewer and in your target apps to confirm the order and dates look right.

For a clear visual, take a before and after screenshot of the metadata panel showing DateTimeOriginal, then compare the library’s sort order. If you want a friendly walkthrough of several approaches, this tutorial on how to change photo date is a nice next step.

How to change a photo date and time on iPhone

The Photos app makes this simple. Open Photos, choose your image, and tap the “i” info button. Tap Adjust or Adjust Date & Time, set the correct date, time, and if offered the time zone, then tap Done to save.

For multiple photos, open an album or your Library view and tap Select. Choose all the images that need the same change, then tap the three‑dot More button. Pick Adjust Date & Time, set the new values or use a shift, and confirm to update the whole batch.

If you use iCloud Photos, your edits sync to iCloud and to all devices signed into the same Apple ID. The update is not always instant, so give it a little time, especially on mobile data or with large Live Photos. Live Photos and HEIC files store the updated dates in their metadata, though some third‑party apps may not reflect the change right away.

When changes seem to revert or do not show in another app, export a copy and check its metadata with a viewer. Ensure your iOS and Photos app are up to date, and confirm you edited the date on the item and not only the album sort. A quick device restart often refreshes the library view after large batch edits.

For documentation or sharing, take a screenshot of the info screen before and after, especially when you are correcting the dates of a trip or an event. This makes it easy to confirm the timeline later.

Changing photo date using Google Photos app on Android

On Android, open Google Photos and choose the image you want to fix. Tap the three‑dot menu, tap Edit date & time, set the new date and time, and save. For multiple items, long‑press to select several, tap the three‑dot menu, and use Edit date & time to apply a shared date or a shift where supported.

The web version at photos.google.com is great for batches. Select one or many photos, open the three‑dot menu, and choose Edit date & time. When you select multiple, the web editor can apply a relative shift, which is perfect for time zone corrections from a trip.

It is important to know what Google Photos actually changes. The app updates the date stored in your Google Photos library in the cloud, which controls how albums and search show the image. When you download, Google usually writes the adjusted timestamp into the exported file’s EXIF or XMP for JPEG and HEIC, but behavior can vary by format and over time, so test by downloading one fixed item and inspecting it.

If you need deeper control on Android, dedicated apps can help. Photo EXIF Editor lets you edit DateTimeOriginal and related tags on device, while Tonfotos can handle bulk edits when connected to a library, though some features may require payment. Always test on copies and confirm results by viewing the dates in a metadata viewer.

When troubleshooting, remember that sync delays can hide your changes for a few minutes. If an exported copy shows the old EXIF date, try exporting a different format, or let the cloud finish processing. HEIC and JPEG generally behave well, while some RAW and PNG files need special handling.

Using advanced tools like ExifTool to edit photo metadata dates

If you manage big archives, precision and speed matter, and ExifTool is the right hammer. It edits almost any metadata, works recursively through folders, and supports RAW and HEIC. This is also where how to edit dates on photos at scale becomes practical and reliable.

To set the capture date for one file, run this command. exiftool -DateTimeOriginal=”2026:11:01 12:34:56″ photo.jpg. If you want to overwrite without keeping ExifTool’s default backup, add -overwrite_original like this: exiftool -overwrite_original -DateTimeOriginal=”2026:11:01 12:34:56″ photo.jpg.

To update the main date fields together, use AllDates. exiftool -AllDates=”2026:11:01 12:34:56″ photo.jpg. To keep your file system in sync, copy the EXIF capture time into the file’s modified timestamp with exiftool “-FileModifyDate

For folders, you can run a recursive batch. exiftool -r -AllDates=”2026:11:01 12:34:56″ /path/to/folder. For a time zone correction, shift all dates by one hour like this: exiftool “-AllDates+=0:0:0 1:0:0” /path/to/folder. That command adds one hour to every EXIF date in the selected directory tree.

Lightroom also has a fast workflow for large sets. In Library, select the photos, open Metadata, and choose Edit Capture Time. You can set a specific date and time or choose Shift by to add or subtract hours and minutes, and Lightroom will adjust the capture time across the selection consistently.

If you only need file system dates on Windows, PowerShell makes it quick. For a single file, run (Get-Item “C:photosIMG_0001.jpg”).CreationTime = Get-Date “2026-11-01 12:34:56”. For a bulk one‑hour shift, use Get-ChildItem -Path “C:photos” -Filter *.jpg | ForEach-Object { $_.CreationTime = $_.CreationTime.AddHours(1) } and adjust to your needs.

Work safely when doing big edits. ExifTool creates “_original” backups by default, so you can revert if something looks wrong. Test commands on a small folder, keep a simple CSV or sidecar log of the old and new timestamps, and verify with exiftool -time:all -G -s file.jpg or by opening the images in your library app.

Good metadata care improves search, sorting, and archiving for the long run. If you want more on organizing and safeguarding your data, this short read on how to protect images with metadata is worth a look. With a solid process, how to edit dates on photos becomes a quick habit you can trust every time you import, scan, or migrate your library.

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Final Thoughts on Photo Date Editing

Whether you’re correcting a single image or batch-processing 270 files, this guide showed how to fix the underlying EXIF and file timestamps so your library sorts correctly and your memories show up where you expect them. We walked through what EXIF tags mean, quick edits on iPhone and Google Photos, plus power-user workflows with ExifTool, Lightroom, and desktop metadata editors. Photographers, family archivists, and casual shooters will gain the most — just back up originals, decide whether to edit EXIF or OS timestamps, and be mindful of cloud-sync quirks that can delay or duplicate changes.

If your opening question was “Why do my photos show the wrong time?”, you now have clear, platform-specific steps and a checklist to inspect, change, and verify timestamps without losing the original data. Always test edits on a small folder, use relative shifts for whole shoots, and confirm results with a metadata viewer or Lightroom before touching hundreds of files. Make those few careful edits now and you’ll enjoy a cleaner, more honest photo archive for years to come.