Can you change the date on a photo on iPhone?
Yes, in exactly the same way as a video. Open the photo in Photos, tap More, then Adjust Date & Time (after Adjust Info on iOS 27), set the date and tap Adjust.
Free · runs in your browser
How to change the date of a video on iPhone
The Photos app can move a video or photo to the right day in your library. Here is how, what it does and does not change, and how to fix the date inside the file itself.
To change the date of a video on iPhone, open it in the Photos app, tap the More button, tap Adjust Date & Time (on iOS 27, tap Adjust Info first), set the new date and time, and tap Adjust. The video moves to that day in your library. The same steps work for photos.
That change is made in your Photos library. Apple describes it as changing data stored with the item, and you can undo it with Revert at any time. Apple does not say whether the new date goes with the file when you share or export it, so if the date has to survive being sent to a computer, a cloud service or another person, check the copy that arrives, or change the date inside the file itself.
This guide covers the Photos steps for iOS 26 and iOS 27 from Apple’s iPhone User Guide, the same job in Google Photos, and how to set the date inside the video file with metadata.video in Safari, where nothing is uploaded. The general background on video dates is in check and change a video’s date.
Change a video’s date in the Photos app
These are Apple’s steps for iOS 27; on iOS 26 the menu has one level fewer.
Open the video in Photos
Open the Photos app and tap the video (or photo) whose date is wrong.
Open the More menu
Tap the More button. Alternatively, swipe up to see the info panel and tap Adjust next to the date.
Choose Adjust Date & Time
On iOS 27, tap Adjust Info, then Adjust Date & Time. On iOS 26, Adjust Date & Time is in the menu straight away.
Set the date and save
Use the calendar and the clock to pick the right date and time, then tap Adjust. The video moves to its new place in your library.
What Adjust Date & Time changes, and what it does not
Photos sorts your library by the date it holds for each item. Adjust Date & Time changes that date, so the video moves in the Library view, in Memories and in searches by date. Your original is kept: Revert in the same menu puts the original date back.
What Apple’s guide does not cover is whether the file you share afterwards carries the new date. Recipients, Windows PCs and cloud services read the date stored inside the video, and that may still be the original. You can check in a minute:
- After adjusting the date, share the video to yourself (AirDrop to a Mac, save to Files, or email it).
- Open the received copy at metadata.video in Safari or on a computer, and look at Date & time.
- If the recorded date there is still the old one, the change lives only in your library. Fix the file itself as described below.
Changing the date does not change what is visible in the video. A date stamp burned into the picture by a dash cam or an old camcorder stays as it is.
Change the date of several videos at once
Apple’s guide describes a batch method: in the Photos library, tap Select, tap the thumbnails of the videos and photos you want to change, then follow the same steps through the More button. This is useful for a whole trip filmed on a camera with its clock set wrong.
When you are fixing a time zone problem rather than a wrong day, look at the time as well as the date: a camera left on UK time in New York will be five hours ahead for every clip. Correct the first clip and check how the others line up.
How to change the date in Google Photos
If your videos are backed up to Google Photos, it can change the date shown in your Google Photos library. Google’s help says this works only for backed-up items, and it adds a warning worth reading: if you share the item to other apps or download it, it “may show the original date and time saved by your camera”.
In the Google Photos app on iPhone
- Open Google Photos and tap the video.
- Tap More, then About, or swipe up.
- Tap the date and timestamp, choose a new date and time, and tap Done.
In the Google Photos app on Android
- Open the video, tap More and About (or swipe up).
- Next to the date and timestamp, tap Edit.
- Choose the new date and time and tap Save.
On a computer, for many items at once
At photos.google.com, select the items, click More and Edit date and time. With several selected you can choose Shift dates and times (set the first item and move the rest by the same amount) or Set one date and time for all of them.
Change the date inside the video file
When the date has to be right everywhere, in every app and for anyone you send the video to, change it in the file. metadata.video does this in Safari on your iPhone without uploading anything:
- Open metadata.video in Safari and tap Open a file. Choose the video from your photo library or from Files.
- Look at Date & time to see every date the file holds and any warnings.
- Tap Edit & clean, set Recorded and the Time zone, or use Shift by to move it by a number of hours.
- Tap Download new file. Use Share to save the copy back to Photos, or keep it in Files.
The video and audio are copied as they are, so the quality does not change, and iPhone HEVC and Dolby Vision clips work even though nothing is decoded. The new copy is a separate file: when you save it to Photos it is a new item, so check it lands on the right day before deleting the original.
| Method | What changes | Survives sharing or downloading? | Many at once? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photos › Adjust Date & Time | The date in your Photos library | Not documented by Apple; check the copy | Yes, with Select |
| Google Photos › edit date | The date in Google Photos | Google says the original may show | Yes, on the web |
| metadata.video › Recorded | The date inside the file | Yes, it is part of the file | No, one file at a time |
Why iPhone videos end up on the wrong day
- Saved from WhatsApp, Instagram or another app: the copy in Photos is a new file made by the app, so it is often filed under the day you saved it. The original recording date usually did not survive the app; see do apps remove video metadata.
- Imported from a camera or drone: if the device clock was never set, every clip carries its default date.
- Edited in another app and saved back: some editors write the export time as the recording date.
- Late at night while travelling: an hour or two of time zone difference moves a clip to the previous or next day.
To see which date your iPhone actually stored, open the video’s info panel or follow how to see video metadata on iPhone.
Changing dates on iPhone: questions
How do I undo a date change in Photos?
Open the item, tap More, go to Adjust Date & Time again and tap Revert. The original date comes back.
Will the person I send the video to see the new date?
Apple does not document it, and it can depend on how you share. Send a copy to yourself and check its Date & time here. If the old date shows, change the date inside the file before sending.
Can I change the time zone of a video on iPhone?
Apple’s guide mentions only the calendar and the clock. In the file itself you can set the Time zone next to Recorded at metadata.video.
Why can’t I change the date in Google Photos?
Google Photos only lets you change the date of items that are backed up. Wait until the video has finished backing up, then try again.
Does changing the date in the file reduce quality?
No. The video and audio are copied without re-encoding; only the date fields are rewritten.