When was this photo taken? Photo date checker

How to read the result

Capture date is what the camera wrote when the photo was taken, in the camera's own clock time. If the file has a time-zone offset, it is shown next to it. Created and modified are two other dates some files carry; if the modified date is later than the capture date, something saved the file again after it was taken.

Location is GPS data. Phones add it when location access for the camera is on. The map links open the coordinates in OpenStreetMap or Google Maps in a new tab; the coordinates are only sent to the map site if you click one.

The “file last modified” date comes from your computer, not from the photo. It tells you when this copy was last saved or copied, not when the picture was taken.

The “Can you trust this date?” box follows a few simple rules: no metadata at all, an editing program named in the Software field, a modified date that differs from the capture date, a capture date in the future, or a very old date on a phone model. It cannot catch a date that was changed cleanly. For that reason a consistent result is a clue, not proof.

How to check when a photo was taken without this tool

iPhone (Photos app)

1. Open the Photos app and tap the photo.
2. Swipe up on the photo, or tap the info (i) button.
3. You will see the date and time, the file name, the camera and lens, and a map link if the photo has a location.

Apple lets you change a photo's date, time and location in this same panel (tap Adjust). So a date in the Photos app can have been edited by the person who has the phone. Apple's instructions.

Android (Google Photos)

1. Open the Google Photos app and tap the photo.
2. Swipe up, or tap More (the three dots) and then About, depending on your app version.
3. The date, time, file name, size and device are listed there.

Google Photos also lets you change a photo's date and time; Google notes that the original date may still show when a changed photo is shared or downloaded. Google's instructions (see “Change date & timestamps”).

Windows

1. Right-click the file in File Explorer and choose Properties (or select it and press Alt+Enter).
2. Open the Details tab.
3. Look under Origin for “Date taken” and under Image or Camera for the camera details. GPS appears under GPS if present.

The same Details tab has a “Remove Properties and Personal Information” link at the bottom, which can remove metadata from a copy of the file. Walkthrough (third-party tutorial).

Mac

1. Open the photo in Preview and click the Info (i) button in the toolbar. In older macOS versions, choose Tools > Show Inspector.
2. Open the More Info tab (in older versions, the Exif tab) to see the camera details and the date.
3. In the Photos app, select the photo and press Command-I to see its date and device.

Apple's Preview guide.

Questions

Is my photo uploaded anywhere?

No. The page reads the file with JavaScript inside your browser and shows you the result. Nothing is sent to a server. You can check this yourself: load the page, switch your phone or computer to airplane mode, and the tool still works.

The only thing we count is that the tool was used (a number per day, with no information about you or the photo).

Why does my photo show no date or location?

Screenshots, images saved from websites, and photos that went through messaging apps or social networks often have their metadata removed or rewritten, because apps re-save the picture to make it smaller. What is kept differs from app to app and depends on how the photo was sent. A photo can also simply have been taken with location turned off.

If you need the date, look for the original file on the phone or camera that took the photo, or in its cloud backup.

Can I trust the date shown here?

Only as a clue. The date is a text field inside the file. It is written by the camera, but free tools can change it in seconds. This page tells you when the details do not add up (for example an editing program in the Software field, or a modified date that is later than the capture date), but it cannot tell you that a consistent-looking date is true. See can photo metadata be changed? and how to prove when a photo was taken.

What is the difference between the capture date and the file's modified date?

The capture date (called DateTimeOriginal) is written into the photo by the camera when you press the shutter. The file's “last modified” date is kept by your computer or phone and changes when the file is saved or copied, so it says little about when the picture was taken. This page shows both and labels them.

What does “Remove location & download” do?

For a JPEG, it deletes only the GPS block from the file and leaves the rest (capture date, camera, and so on) as it was. The picture itself is not re-compressed. For other formats (HEIC, PNG, TIFF, WebP) the photo is re-saved as a JPEG in your browser, which removes all metadata, location included. The tool says which of the two happened.

Which file types work?

JPEG, HEIC/HEIF, PNG, TIFF and most files your phone or camera produces. Reading the metadata of a HEIC file works in every modern browser. Re-saving a HEIC file as a JPEG needs a browser that can display HEIC pictures (Safari can; many others cannot).

Does the tool work on iPhone and Android?

Yes, in the normal browser (Safari, Chrome). On an iPhone, when you pick a picture from the photo library the system may hand the page a re-saved copy that leaves out some information, location in particular. If something you expect is missing, try choosing the file from the Files app, or look at the original in the Photos app (see the steps below).