You move a few hundred photos from your iPhone to the computer, open the folder, and every single one is dated today. The day you took your kid to the beach in 2019 now apparently happened this morning. The photos are fine, but the story they told is gone.
This guide explains why that happens and how to move photos so the real dates survive.
Two kinds of dates
Every photo carries two separate dates, and mixing them up is where the trouble starts.
- The file date is what your computer's file system records: when the file landed on the disk. Copy a photo and this date resets.
- The photo date lives inside the image itself, in a block of information called EXIF. It records when the shutter actually fired, often the location too.
When a folder of photos all show today's date, you are usually looking at the file date. The real date might still be inside the image, or it might be gone, depending on how the photo travelled.
How the dates get destroyed
Some ways of moving photos quietly rewrite or strip the EXIF block:
- Messaging apps compress photos before sending, and most strip the EXIF while they are at it.
- Some cloud services and email clients do the same when they resize images.
- Screenshots of photos carry no original data at all, because they are new images.
The photo survives the trip. The story about when and where it happened often does not.
The HEIC wrinkle
Since 2017, iPhones save photos as .heic files rather than .jpg. The dates inside are fine, but plenty of software cannot read the format, so people run their photos through whatever free converter turns up first. Many of those strip the EXIF on the way through, which is how a careful person still ends up with a folder of undated photos.
Moving photos the safe way
- Plug the phone in with a cable, or use AirDrop to a Mac. Both move the original files untouched.
- Avoid sending photos to yourself through chat apps. That is the most common way the data dies.
- If you need JPGs out of HEIC files, use a converter that states it keeps EXIF intact, and spot-check one photo after converting.
Quick check: on Windows, right-click a photo, open Properties, then Details. On a Mac, open the photo in Preview and press the info button. If you can see a "date taken" and it looks right, the EXIF survived.
Where Holdfast fits
This exact problem is why the HEIC to JPG tool exists. It converts in your browser, your photos never touch a server, and the dates, locations, and the rest of the EXIF carry across to the JPG. One payment, five conversions, no subscription.
Common questions
Why are my iPhone photos dated today on my computer?
You are most likely seeing the file date, the moment the copy landed on your disk, rather than the photo's real date taken. The real date lives inside the image in the EXIF block and may still be intact, depending on how you moved the photos.
Does AirDrop keep photo dates?
Yes. AirDrop moves the original file, so the EXIF date taken comes across intact. Sending photos through chat apps is what usually strips it.
How do I check if a photo still has its date?
On Windows, right-click the photo, open Properties, then Details, and look for Date taken. On a Mac, open it in Preview and press the info button.