Does the Google Photos import change my photos?

It writes the real capture date and the GPS coordinates into each photo's EXIF, taken from the JSON sidecar Google exported beside it. That is a metadata write inside the file — the image data itself is never touched, re-compressed or converted. The Takeout folder you point it at is only read; the organized library is written at the destination you choose, as one undoable batch.

What are orphans in the Takeout scan?

Files the scan could not give a reliable date: no JSON sidecar next to them, no valid date inside the sidecar, or a sidecar that would not parse. The panel gives the reason per file. A handful on a large export is normal; hundreds usually means part of a multi-part export was not unzipped into the same folder.

Do I need to keep the Takeout export after importing?

Keep it until you have looked over the result. Google gives you that export once per request, and Copy mode leaves it untouched precisely so you have something to go back to. After that it is yours to delete.

Google Photos Takeout import

Q: Why does the import end with far fewer files than the export had?

Google Takeout writes a photo once for every album it belongs to, plus once in its year folder, so a photo in three albums is exported four times. FolioSort recognises those as the same photo and keeps one. The lower number is the export's duplication being removed, not files going missing.

What this does to your files

The import writes the real capture date and the GPS coordinates into each photo's EXIF, taking them from the .json sidecar Google exported next to it. That is a metadata write inside the file — the only place in FolioSort where the file itself is edited, and the reason it is worth running on a copy the first time. The image data is not touched, re-compressed or converted.

Your Takeout folder is read, never modified. The organized library is written at the destination you choose, and the whole run is one undoable batch in Activity.

Takeout source

Takeout FolderFree

Point this at the folder you unzipped the Takeout archives into. It is fine for it to still be the shape Google gave you — Takeout/Google Photos/ with a folder per album and per year. Unzip every part of a multi-part export into the same place first, so the pieces can find each other.

ScanFree

Reads the export and pairs every photo with its JSON sidecar. When it finishes you get three numbers that are worth reading before you go further:

Matched — photo and sidecar found each other. These get their real date and GPS back.
Orphans — a file with no usable date. The panel gives the reason per file: No JSON sidecar, No valid date, or JSON parse error.
No files match — the folder is not a Takeout export, or it is still zipped.

"No orphans — all files have dates!" is the result you are hoping for. A handful of orphans is normal on a large export; hundreds usually means part of the archive was not unzipped into the same folder.

Destination and structure

Destination FolderFree

Where the repaired, organized library is written. Keep it on a different drive from the Takeout export if you have the space: it makes the "I still have the original" question unambiguous while you check the result.

Folder StructureYear / Month is free

The same templates as the Organize screen — Organise into date folders, One folder per year, Flat folder, sortable, Camera › Year › Month › Day, or a custom template. The preview shows the real tree for your scanned files before anything is written.

Mode — Copy or MoveFree

Copy leaves the Takeout export intact, which is what you want the first time. Google gives you that export once per request; treat it as the negative.

Duplicate album copies

Why the same photo appears several timesFree

Takeout writes a photo once per album it belongs to, plus once in its year folder. A photo in three albums is exported four times. FolioSort recognises these as the same photo and keeps one, which is why the file count at the end is often much lower than the count in the export — that is the export being wrong, not files going missing.

Auto-Sync

Getting Takeouts on a scheduleElite

If you asked Google for a recurring export, Auto-Sync watches the download folder and merges each new delivery into the library you already built, instead of making you repeat the whole import. New files are added; the ones already there are recognised and skipped.

If something looks wrong

Every photo says it was taken the day I downloaded it

That is what a Takeout export looks like before the repair: Google keeps the capture time in the JSON sidecar, not in the photo, so anything reading the file alone sees the export date. Running the import is what puts the real date back inside the file, where every other app can read it.

A lot of orphans

Check that every part of the export was unzipped into the same folder — Google splits large exports into numbered archives and the sidecars do not always land in the same part as their photos. Edited copies (-edited names) sometimes have no sidecar of their own by design.

ExifTool not found

A component the import uses on some formats did not start. Reinstalling the app restores it; if the message persists, write to us rather than working around it — we would want to see that one.

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