Fix photos that appear on the wrong date

Open Update Date/Time

1. In the Gallery tab, open All Media, Camera or an album. See The Gallery tab.
2. Long-press a photo or video to start selecting, then tap the others you want to fix.
3. Tap More and then Update Date/Time.

You can also fix a single photo or video from the photo preview: tap More at the bottom and then Update Date/Time.

Check the suggested dates

Each row shows the thumbnail, the filename and, when the filename contains a date the app recognizes, the pattern it matched below it. The date and time boxes hold the suggested date. Below them, three buttons show where each date can come from:

• EXIF: the date stored inside the file. For photos this is the EXIF data; for videos it is the date stored in the video.
• Filename: the date and time read from the filename.
• File date: the date the gallery uses for the file now.

The suggestion uses the EXIF date when there is one, otherwise the filename date, otherwise the file date. A button is dimmed when that source has no date for the file.

Select the rows to change

Rows start unselected. Tap a row to select it. The round icon at the top left selects every row in the current view, or clears the selection. Choosing a source button does not select the row; typing a date that differs from the file date does.

Pick the date

• For one row, tap one of the source buttons, or type the date and time in the boxes. The calendar icon opens a date picker and then a time picker. After you type or pick a date yourself, the row shows a Manually set button. A pencil icon marks every row whose chosen date differs from its file date.
• For all selected rows at once, tap Set Date at the bottom and choose Use file date, Use filename date or Use earliest date. Use filename date skips rows whose filename has no date. Use earliest date picks the oldest of the three dates for each row separately.

Narrow the list

The filter icon at the top right lets you show only rows whose date was detected from EXIF date, Filename date or File date, or rows whose date was Manually set. Each option shows how many rows it holds; while detection is still running, these numbers can grow. Set Date and Apply only act on selected rows that the filter shows.

Write the dates

1. Tap Apply at the bottom. If a selected row has an incomplete or invalid date, Invalid Date/Time asks you to fix it first; Go to first scrolls to it.
2. In Date Fields to Update, choose which dates to write. All are ticked by default. Photos have three EXIF date fields, videos have the creation time stored in the video, and both have the date taken in Android's media library and the file's modified date. The modified date is only changed where the app can write the file directly.
3. Tap Apply.

Android may ask you to allow SyncGallery to change the files. For files on an SD card, the app may ask for access to the folder. For a large batch, it may ask for access to all files instead.

A message then shows how many items were updated. Every row the app tried to write leaves the list, including rows that failed, and the screen closes when no rows are left. If rows remain, Date Updated reminds you that photos can change position in the gallery, unless you turned the reminder off with Don't show again.

Which filenames are recognized

The filename must contain both a date and a time, for example:

• IMG_20230415_143022.jpg or VID_20230415_143022.mp4: the date and time after an underscore.
• 20230415_143022.jpg: the date and time at the start of the name.
• Screenshot_2023-04-15-14-30-22.png
• 2023-04-15_14-30-22.jpg, 2023-04-15 14.30.22.jpg or 2023-04-15_14.30.22.jpg

A name with only a date, such as IMG-20240310-WA0001.jpg, is not recognized. Filename times are read in the phone's current time zone.

Next

To back up the corrected photos, see Back up albums or folders.