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How to Download Photos From iCloud With the Original Date

Downloaded iCloud photos show today's date? The real date is usually still inside the photo. How to check it, download the right way, and fix file dates.

· 6 min read

You downloaded your photos from iCloud. Now the folder shows today's date for every picture, and the order is wrong. The date the photo was taken is normally stored inside each file as metadata. The file date, which shows when the file was saved, is a separate value.

This guide shows how to confirm that, which download method to use, and how to set the file dates back from the photo's own metadata. At the end, you get a checklist.

Why downloaded iCloud photos show the wrong date

A photo file has two kinds of dates.

  • File dates. These are the created and modified dates of the file on your computer. A new copy gets new dates.
  • Capture date. This is stored inside the photo as metadata (EXIF). It records when the photo was taken.

An Apple Community specialist explained this to a user whose downloaded photos all showed the current date and time. The reply says that the created date shows when the file was created on that device, and the modified date shows when the file was last edited on that device, for example in Preview on a Mac. Neither is the date the photo was taken. The capture date is in the metadata, in a field called "Date Time Digitized" in the Mac view (Apple Community).

So the first step is to look at the capture date, not the file date.

Step 1: Check the capture date

  1. Pick three photos from different years.
  2. Open the photo in an app that shows metadata. The Apple Community specialist points to the EXIF field "Date Time Digitized" on a Mac. The exact menu differs by app and system. As a general tip, a photo viewer's Info or Inspector panel and the Windows File Explorer details view usually show it. This guide did not check those menus.
  3. Compare it with what you remember about the photo.

The same thread says the labels may differ on Windows and that the steps depend on the app you use (Apple Community).

If the capture date is correct, you only need to fix the file dates (Step 3). If it is empty, go to Step 2 and download that photo again.

Step 2: Download in the way that fits your library

Apple documents several ways to get photos out of iCloud (Apple Support).

From iCloud.com

  1. Go to icloud.com/photos and sign in.
  2. Select the photos. Apple says you can select up to 1,000 at a time (Apple Support).
  3. Click the More button and choose More Download Options.
  4. Click Download next to the option you want.

The plain Download button uses the most compatible format for the device you are using (Apple Support). The three options are:

| Option | What Apple says | |---|---| | Unmodified Originals | Files keep the format they were captured or imported in, without edits | | Highest Resolution | The highest quality your device supports, HEIC or H.265 when available | | Most Compatible | Photos as JPEG and videos as MP4/H.264 when possible |

Apple's pages do not say how each option treats dates. Do not assume. Download ten photos with Unmodified Originals, then repeat Step 1 on them.

From the Photos app on a Mac

In Photos, open Settings, then iCloud, and choose "Download Originals to this Mac". Apple says that "Optimize Mac Storage" keeps lower-resolution versions instead (Apple Support). Wait until the library has finished downloading before you export. After that, you can export from the app.

From an iPhone or iPad

Select the items in your Library, tap Share, and choose "Export Unmodified Originals". Save them to Files, to iCloud Drive, or to an external storage device (Apple Support).

With a cable

One reply in the Apple Community thread suggests connecting an iPhone to a Mac and copying the files with Image Capture, which the user says keeps the original date and time (Apple Community). This is a user report, not an Apple instruction. Test it on a few photos first.

From iCloud for Windows

Apple says that with iCloud Photos turned on, you can find your iCloud Photos in File Explorer or Microsoft Photos (Apple Support). Apple's page gives no separate download steps for this app.

Step 3: Set the file dates from the capture date

If Step 1 showed a correct capture date but the file dates are wrong, you can copy the capture date into the file modified date. ExifTool is a free command-line tool that does this.

Work on a copy of your photos. Then run this command in a terminal, with your own folder path:

exiftool -r "-filemodifydate<datetimeoriginal" /path/to/photos-copy

The ExifTool FAQ gives the -filemodifydate<datetimeoriginal form in its answer to the question about dates that reset to today (ExifTool FAQ). The -r option makes ExifTool process subfolders (ExifTool documentation). Without it, only the files directly in the folder are processed, so a library in year and month folders needs -r.

Three limits:

  • The photo must contain a DateTimeOriginal value. A file without it is not changed.
  • This sets the modified date. The created date is a separate value called FileCreateDate. The FAQ says the tool can read and write it on Windows, and that on a Mac writing it needs the setfile tool (ExifTool FAQ).
  • The documentation warns that -overwrite_original replaces files without a backup copy and should only be used if you have separate backups (ExifTool documentation). The command above does not use it.

After the command, sort the folder by Date modified and check the same three photos again.

Step 4: Put the photos in folders you can find

Correct dates make folders by year and month possible. You can build them by hand: make a folder for each year, then a folder for each month, and move the files.

PHOTOK is published on the Pacix Labs site. Its page shows photos filed into folders by year, month and place, for example "2019 / 08 - August / Italy - Rome", and offers downloads for Mac and Windows. The page lists the price as €49. The page does not mention iCloud or explain how it reads dates, and its "How it works" section has no text yet. For that reason, test it on a copy of a few hundred photos first. Check that a photo you know lands in the right month.

Manual sorting and free tools work too. If your problem is dates after a Google Takeout export instead, see Google Takeout photos with wrong dates. The choice depends on how many photos you have and how much time you want to spend.

Checklist

  1. Check the capture date in three photos before you change anything.
  2. Download ten photos with Unmodified Originals and check them again.
  3. On a Mac, let Photos finish downloading before you export.
  4. Work on a copy when you run any command.
  5. Run exiftool -r "-filemodifydate<datetimeoriginal" /path/to/photos-copy only if the capture date is correct. On a Mac, the created date can be written only if setfile is installed.
  6. Sort by Date modified and compare with what you remember.
  7. Keep your iCloud library until you have checked the copy. Apple notes that deleting content on a device with iCloud Photos turned on also removes it from iCloud (Apple Support).

Frequently asked questions

Why do my downloaded iCloud photos show today's date?

The file date shows when the file was created on your computer. The date the photo was taken is stored inside the photo, in its metadata. A photo viewer that sorts by file date shows the wrong order, while a viewer that reads the metadata shows the right one.

Which download option should I choose on iCloud.com?

Apple lists three options: Unmodified Originals, Highest Resolution and Most Compatible. Unmodified Originals keeps the format the photo was captured in and leaves out edits. Apple's page does not say how each option treats dates, so check a few downloaded files before you download everything.

Is the original date lost forever?

Often not. An Apple Community specialist says that when you download a photo, all of the metadata is downloaded with it, and the capture date is separate from the file date. This is one reply about one case, so check your own files. If the metadata date is empty in a downloaded file, download that photo again with another option and compare.

Does ExifTool change my photos?

The command in this guide changes only the file modified date. The documentation says -overwrite_original replaces files without a backup copy, so this guide does not use it. Work on a copy of the folder anyway.

How many photos can I select on iCloud.com at once?

Apple's page says you can select up to 1,000 at a time. For a large library, the Photos app on a Mac with the full library downloaded is easier than many browser downloads.

Sources

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