How to Restore Original Dates and GPS Data to Exported Snapchat Memories
When users export their Snapchat Memories via the My Data tool at accounts.snapchat.com, the downloaded photos and videos lose their original capture dates and location data. This happens because Snapchat stores timestamps in a sidecar JSON file rather than embedding them in the EXIF fields that apps like Google Photos and Apple Photos actually read. The correct capture time, formatted as a UTC timestamp, is present in the export's memories_history.json file but must be manually written into each media file's metadata. For JPEGs, the relevant fields are DateTimeOriginal and CreateDate, while MP4 files require updating QuickTime atoms such as mvhd and mdhd. Users can fix this mismatch using a free command-line tool called ExifTool, which reads the JSON timestamps and writes them directly into the correct metadata fields of each photo or video.
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