Takeout Fixer

A desktop application that fixes metadata for Google Photos Takeout files by reading the accompanying JSON files and embedding the metadata directly into photos and videos.

Features

• Drag & drop interface for easy folder selection
• Processes Google Takeout folders recursively
• Extracts metadata from JSON files (photoTakenTime, creationTime, etc.)
• Writes EXIF metadata directly to image and video files
• Handles various edge cases:
  • Truncated filenames (>51 characters)
  • Bracket position issues
  • Edited file suffixes (-edited, -effects, etc.)
  • Files without extensions
• Progress tracking with real-time updates
• Error reporting for failed files

Installation

1. Clone the repository
2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

Usage

1. Start the application:

   npm start

2. Either:

   • Drag and drop your Google Takeout folder onto the upload area
   • Click "Select Folder" to browse and choose your folder

3. The app will:

   • Scan all files in the folder recursively
   • Match each photo/video with its corresponding JSON file
   • Extract the date/time metadata
   • Write the metadata to the file's EXIF data

4. View the results showing:

   • Total files processed
   • Successfully updated files
   • Failed files (with error details)

How It Works

The app uses multiple strategies to match media files with their JSON metadata:

1. Direct match: photo.jpg → photo.jpg.json
2. Shortened names: For files >51 characters (Google's truncation)
3. Bracket swap: image(11).jpg → image.jpg(11).json
4. Remove suffixes: Strip -edited, -effects, etc.
5. No extension: 20030616.jpg → 20030616.json
6. Pattern matching: Various other edge cases

Building

To build the application for distribution:

npm run build

This will create platform-specific builds in the dist folder.

Dependencies

• Electron: Cross-platform desktop application framework
• exiftool-vendored: For reading and writing EXIF metadata

License

MIT