rExif / docs / date-management

Date Management and Repair

Repairing EXIF timestamps, batch timezone shifts, filename date extraction, and Google Takeout JSON synchronization.

Addressing Timestamp Discrepancies

Incorrect metadata timestamps are among the most persistent issues in photo library curation:

  • Digital cameras with internal clocks left unadjusted for daylight saving time or travel across timezones.
  • Media shared through messaging platforms (WhatsApp, Telegram) where original EXIF dates were stripped and replaced with the download timestamp.
  • Cloud exports from Google Takeout, where true capture dates are stored in separate accompanying .json files rather than embedded in the media files.

rExif provides an exhaustive set of tools to resolve each of these challenges.

Batch Time Shifts

When a camera clock was off by a known delta across hundreds of photos:

  1. Select the relevant images in the main table.
  2. Navigate to Edit Date > Shift Interval.
  3. Specify the time offset in days, hours, minutes, or seconds (e.g. + 02:00:00 or - 01:00:00).
  4. All relative timestamps update instantly in orange preview, preserving the exact interval between consecutive shutter releases.

Reference Photo Alignment

If you do not recall the exact clock discrepancy but have one reference picture (such as an iPhone capture or a photo of a clock tower) with an authoritative timestamp:

  1. Select the reference photo and set its date to the correct value.
  2. Choose Align Other Photos to This Reference.
  3. rExif computes the proportional delta and shifts all selected images accordingly.

Extracting Dates from Filenames

Many camera systems and smartphones generate filenames encoding the precise capture timestamp, such as:

  • IMG_20230514_153022.jpg
  • WhatsApp Image 2024-08-12 at 18.45.10.jpeg
  • Screenshot 2026-03-01 at 09.15.00.png
  • PXL_20251104_120145890.jpg

With the Derive Date from Filename feature:

  1. Select items lacking original EXIF tags.
  2. rExif parses the date and time patterns embedded in the filename or parent folder structure.
  3. In a single click, extracted values are written to DateTimeOriginal, CreateDate, and ModifyDate.

Google Takeout JSON Integration

When downloading full backups from Google Photos via Google Takeout, images and videos are typically paired with metadata sidecar files ending in .json (e.g. photo.jpg.json).

[!TIP] Drag the entire Google Takeout folder directly into rExif: the app pairs each .json file with its matching photo or video, extracts the authentic photoTakenTime and original GPS coordinates, and writes them straight into the media file’s metadata blocks.

Aligning Filesystem Timestamps

Operating systems such as macOS and Windows display the filesystem “Date Created” attribute in Finder/Explorer, which often differs from the true EXIF capture date (for instance after moving files between external drives).

rExif’s Align File Dates to EXIF Date:

  • Reads the authentic EXIF capture date stored in the image header.
  • Updates the filesystem timestamps on macOS (kMDItemContentCreationDate and kMDItemFSContentChangeDate).
  • Finder displays the actual moment the photograph was taken as the file creation date.