FAQ
Common questions and answers about our tool
Why do I need this?
When exporting from Google Takeout, your photos and videos may not have any of their metadata information written on them making it very hard to upload your library elsewhere and maintain their chronological order, GPS data, and other information. This tool will help you recover that and fix your images.
What metadata does Metadata Fixer restore?
Metadata Fixer helps recover and restore various types of metadata that Google strips from your photos.
Here's what we can fix:
Location Information (When GPS was enabled on your device)
- GPS Coordinates — Restore latitude, longitude, and altitude data
- Location Names — Derive and restore city names from photo coordinates
Tags & Keywords
- Keywords — Recover searchable tags and labels you've added
- Subject Tags — Restore additional categorization tags
Descriptions & Captions
- Photo Descriptions — Restore main description text
- Image Captions — Recover caption and abstract text
- Comments — Restore user comments and notes
Date & Time Information
- Original Capture Date — Fix the date and time when the photo was actually taken
- Creation Date — Restore when the file was created
- File System Date — Correct the system file creation timestamp
People Information
- People Tags — Restore names of people identified in your images
Video-Specific Metadata
- Recording Date — Fix when the video was originally recorded
- Track Information — Restore video track creation and modification dates
- QuickTime Metadata — Recover comprehensive video metadata, including GPS coordinates for videos
With optional plugins, Metadata Fixer can also repair damaged photo and video containers so their metadata can be restored. The Video Encoder plugin can convert older video formats to modern MP4 files.
Note: The availability of metadata restoration depends on whether this information existed in your original files.
How does this software work?
We use Phil Harvey's ExifTool to go through each media files and find their corresponding .json file containing all their metadata. We then merge the two so that your images and videos contain their correct metadata.
Is Metadata Fixer safe?
Yes. Metadata Fixer is a desktop app that runs on your own computer: your photos and videos are never uploaded to our servers. The macOS build is notarized by Apple and the Windows build is code-signed, so your operating system can verify where it came from. It works only on the Takeout files you give it and never asks you to sign in to your Google account.
Does Metadata Fixer upload my photos?
No. All processing happens on your computer. The app only contacts our servers to check licenses, look for updates, sync demo usage counts, and send diagnostics if you turn them on. See our privacy policy for the exact fields.
How much does Metadata Fixer cost?
The demo is free and processes up to 100 photos and videos with the full feature set. The full version is a one-time $39 payment for unlimited files, and the Complete Bundle is $59 and adds the Image Fixer, Video Encoder and Duplicate Finder plugins. There is no subscription. See pricing.
What's the demo?
The demo offers the exact same functionality as the full version but limits you to 100 photos and videos to give you a chance to try our service. If you think this can help your photo library, please consider getting the full version.
Why does this cost money?
After experiencing a lot of frustration with Google Takeout's messy export ourselves, we decided to create a simple interface to make the whole process seamless and stress-free. Pictures are important memories and we know the feeling of having them all left unsorted, especially when trying to import them elsewhere. This tool took a lot of time to create, test, and to make sure it processed all files from a typical Google Takeout library while being in an easy-to-use interface, and so we felt that it was fair to ask for a small fee to help maintain it.
How do I get help if I come across a bug?
We're constantly trying to improve this tool and make it easier for you to process your pictures! Please start by checking our Support Page for common problems. If you come across any other bug or issue that prevents you from processing all your photos and videos properly, please contact us so we can help you resolve the issue as soon as possible.
What file types do you support?
We support all file types that ExifTool supports, including:
- Photos: JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, HEIC, HEIF, DNG, CR2, CR3, NEF, EXR, BMP, SR2, ORF, RAW, 360, 3FR, WEBP, JP2, EPS, EXIF, ICO, ARW
- Videos: MOV, MP4, 3GP, MPG, MPEG, WMV, TOD, MTS, MOD, MMV, MKV, M4V, M2TS, M2T, DIVX, AVI, ASF, 3G2, WEBM
Note about MPG/MPEG and AVI: For these file types, we write the date and time to the Modified Date field as a fallback since systems like Synology can still use that correctly.
Note about HEIC files: There have been issues writing metadata to some HEIC files where they seem to be corrupted from Google Photos. These photos are still viewable and importable elsewhere, but we can't write to them, which may be due to the way Google Photos exports them.
Do you issue refunds?
Yes. Every purchase comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If Metadata Fixer or a plugin doesn't work for your library, email us within 30 days of purchase and we'll refund you in full.
If you can, include your log file (see the Support page) so we can try to fix the problem for you first.
What operating systems are supported?
Metadata Fixer is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. You can download the appropriate version for your operating system from our download page.
What languages does Metadata Fixer support?
Metadata Fixer is available in English, German, French, and Spanish. You can change the language in the app settings.
Can I process folders directly, or do I need ZIP files?
You can process both ZIP files and folders directly. If you've already extracted your Google Takeout archives, you can simply select the folder containing your photos and videos. The software will automatically detect and process all media files within the folder structure.
What happens to files without metadata?
By default, files without corresponding JSON metadata files are processed normally. However, you can enable an option to move these files to a separate "Files Without Metadata" folder. This helps organize your processed files and makes it easier to identify which files couldn't be matched with their metadata. You can enable or disable this option in the processing settings.
What if my ZIP files are corrupted?
The software automatically checks ZIP archives for corruption before processing. If a corrupted archive is detected, you'll receive a clear error message identifying the problematic file. This helps you identify issues early and avoid wasting time on archives that would fail during extraction. If you encounter corrupted archives, try re-downloading them from Google Takeout.
Restoring Your Purchase
To restore your purchase on another computer, please email us for a code.