Google Takeout JSON Files Explained

By Josep Mampel Marques, updated November 11, 2026

The .json files in a Google Photos Takeout are sidecars: one small text file per photo or video with what Google Photos knows about it. The useful fields are title (the original file name), description, photoTakenTime (when the photo was taken, in UTC) and geoData (latitude and longitude, or 0.0 when there is no location). Google's help says only that extra information goes into a separate JSON file; the field details below come from published samples and open source tools. To write these values back into your photos, use PhotoFixer.

A typical sidecar

This is the shape of a sidecar, based on a sample published on the PhotoStructure forum (the title and view count are illustrative). Newer exports can contain more fields, and the exact set may vary:

{
  "title": "IMG_1234.jpg",
  "description": "",
  "imageViews": "3",
  "creationTime": { "timestamp": "1596250831", "formatted": "Aug 1, 2020, 3:00:31 AM UTC" },
  "photoTakenTime": { "timestamp": "-725791800", "formatted": "Jan 1, 1947, 3:10:00 PM UTC" },
  "geoData": { "latitude": 0.0, "longitude": 0.0, "altitude": 0.0, "latitudeSpan": 0.0, "longitudeSpan": 0.0 },
  "geoDataExif": { "latitude": 0.0, "longitude": 0.0, "altitude": 0.0, "latitudeSpan": 0.0, "longitudeSpan": 0.0 }
}

The fields that matter

Because the timestamps are UTC, turning them into a photo date needs a time zone. A photo taken at 3 PM in New York is stored as 7 PM or 8 PM UTC, depending on daylight saving time.

How sidecars are named

The basic rule is the photo's full name plus .json: IMG_1234.jpg has IMG_1234.jpg.json. In practice there are several exceptions, documented by the authors of open source tools rather than by Google:

• supplemental-metadata. More recent exports name sidecars IMG_1234.jpg.supplemental-metadata.json. When the name gets long, that suffix is cut short too, so you may see shortened forms of it. Exactly when Google introduced it may vary by account.
• Truncated names. TakeoutExtractor's notes describe a limit of about 50 characters for a file name, so a long photo name is cut and its sidecar uses an even shorter version of it. The sidecar name then no longer matches the photo name.
• Duplicates with (1). When two photos in a folder have the same name, Takeout adds a number, and the sidecar puts it in an odd place: the photo IMG_1(1).jpg goes with IMG_1.jpg(1).json, not IMG_1(1).jpg.json.
• Edited copies. A photo edited in Google Photos is exported as an extra file such as IMG_1234-edited.jpg, with no sidecar of its own. The suffix can itself be shortened, and open source tools also handle translated versions of it.

Album folders can also contain JSON files that describe the album rather than a photo. They are not sidecars and can be ignored when matching.

Why matching is the hard part

A simple script that looks for name + ".json" works for most photos and quietly skips the rest: long names, duplicates, edited copies and the newer suffix. Those are often the photos that need the fix most, such as images with long app-generated names. Reading the title field and applying the naming rules above is what makes the match complete. A photo and its sidecar can also sit in different zip parts, so a tool has to see all parts at once.

Using the .json files

1. Keep the zip parts from Takeout as they are. See how to download Google Photos with Takeout.
2. Open PhotoFixer and choose every part. It matches each photo to its sidecar using the title and the naming rules, including supplemental-metadata, truncated names, (1) duplicates and edited copies.
3. Pick the time zone, press Fix my photos and check the summary, which shows how many photos and videos were found and how many were matched to their .json.
4. JPEG photos without EXIF get the date, location and description written in. Videos get their creation date. Every file gets its capture time as the file date.

GooglePhotosTakeoutHelper reads the same files from the command line or its interactive mode, and immich-go reads them while uploading to Immich. Both are good alternatives; see Google Photos to Immich.