How to change the date a photo was taken – 7 ways

When working with photos, some users are interested in the answer to the question of how to change the date a photo was created in order to change the metadata. After a snapshot is taken, additional information appears in the image file with related information.

Digital cameras use the EXIF ​​(Exchangeable Image File Format) standard, which adds comments to photo files. This additional information (metadata) describes various survey parameters.

The metadata may differ depending on the camera manufacturer. In most cases, the following data is written in EXIF:

• camera model and manufacturer;
• aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc.;
• whether the flash was used when shooting, resolution, focal length, etc.;
• geographical coordinates;
• date and time of shooting.

We’re interested in the date and time the photo was taken because we need to change the date the photo was taken. It may be necessary to change the metadata in some situations: the camera has lost its settings and therefore incorrect information is stored, it is necessary to set a different shooting time from the actual one by changing the date to a later or earlier period.

Where to view photo metadata

After moving the photo to the computer, the user can view the saved image metadata. This information is found in the properties of the image file.

You need to do the following:

1. Right click on the photo.
2. Select “Properties” from the context menu.
3. In the “Properties: X” window, open the “Details” tab.
4. Along with other information, the metadata contains information about the date of shooting.

To change the parameters for creating a photo, you need to edit the EXIF ​​data. We need to change the date and time of the shooting.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to change the date a photo was taken on a computer. The instructions in this article use Windows operating system tools and free graphics programs.

How to change the date the photo was taken in the properties of a photo

The easiest way to change the information about the date a photo was taken is by editing the date the photo was taken in the properties of the image file. This can be done using the Windows operating system.

Go through the steps:

1. Click on the file with the right mouse button.
2. In the context menu, click on the “Properties” item.
3. In the window that opens, go to the “Details” tab.
4. Highlight “Date taken”.
5. Click the mouse cursor on the date, select the appropriate value: year, month, day.
6. Click on the “OK” button.

In this way, you can change the date the photo was taken and the time the photo was taken will remain the same.

How to change the date taken in Windows Photo Gallery

The free Windows Photo Gallery is part of the Windows Live Essentials suite of apps. At this point in time, Microsoft has stopped distributing the main components, but the programs that were part of them continue to work on Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 operating systems.

The Windows Live Photo Gallery article has a link to download Windows Live Essentials to your PC. The user can choose what to install on the PC, such as only Photo Gallery or Windows Movie Maker, without installing other components.

In the Photo Album program, you can change not only the shooting date, but also enter a different time when the shooting was created in the photo properties.

The order of operations in the Photo Album program is as follows:

1. Add a photo to the program through the menu or drag and drop an image from your computer into the application window.
2. Open the View tab.
3. In the “Show details” group, click on the “Date taken” button.
4. Navigate to the desired image.
5. Left click on the date to change this information, and then on the time of shooting to modify this setting.

Bulk change the shooting date in File Explorer

Built-in system tool – file manager Windows Explorer can change the date settings for shooting multiple photos in batch mode.

Do the following:

1. Open the photo folder on your computer.
2. Select a group of images in a photo folder.
3. In the Explorer window, go to the “View” tab.
4. In the Areas group, click the Details Area button.
5. In the right part of the window, information regarding the selected photos will appear. In the “Date taken” item, change the original data to others.
6. Click on the “Save” button.

How to change the date taken on a photo in XnView

XnView is a free graphic format viewer. The XnView program, which has powerful functionality, will help you edit the metadata of a photo.

Go through the following:

1. Open the file in XnView.
2. You need to open the “EXIF” tab located below the viewport.
3. In the “Date taken” section, change the date and time the photo was taken.

How to change the date a file was taken in FastStone Image Viewer

FastStone Image Viewer is a free image viewing and processing software. FastStone Image Viewer has a tool to change EXIF ​​information in digital photos.

In FastStone Image Viewer do the following:

1. Open the photo folder in the program window.
2. Select a photo.
3. Click on the image with the right mouse button.
4. From the context menu, first select “Tools” and then “Change Date/Time Selected”.
5. In the “Change date/time” window, in the “Change:” field, select “date/time in EXIF ​​(date/time taken)”.
6. Specify the desired values, and then click on the “Apply to selected” button.

How to shift EXIF ​​date in IrfanView

The free IrfanView program is designed to view and process graphic file formats. The IrfanView application has a tool for changing the attributes of the shooting date in EXIF, which is added to the program using a plugin.

In the IrfanView program, go through the steps:

1. You need to add a photo to the program window.
2. Enter the “Service” menu.
3. In the context menu that opens, click on “Change date / time of shooting in EXIF ​​… (plugin)”.
4. In the “Change the date and time of shooting in EXIF” window, select a new date and time.
5. Click on the “Run” button.

Editing EXIF ​​in ShowEXIF

ShowEXIF is a free program specifically designed for editing photo metadata. With ShowEXIF, you can change the creation time of a photo to something else. The ShowEXIF program does not require installation on a computer, it supports the Russian interface language.

If the program opens in English at the first start, enter the “File” menu, click on “Language”, select the Russian language.

You need to do the following:

1. Using the folder tree, open the folder in the program that contains the desired photo, and then select this photo.
2. Enter the “Tools” menu, in the context menu, alternately click on “Date / Time Operations” and “Change date and time in the Exif section”.
3. In the “Enter a new date and time” window, fill in the fields with the new data.
4. Click on the “Record” button.

Article Conclusions

In some situations, users may need to change the date and time the digital photo was taken on the computer. This data is stored in the EXIF ​​information (metadata) of the photo, which can be seen in the image properties. You can change the date and time of shooting using Windows tools, or using third-party software: free programs designed for viewing images.