How to Check When a Photo Was Taken

Tap a device to see how to check.

iPhone

Open the photo in the Photos app and swipe up slightly to reveal the date, time, and location it was taken.

Android

In your gallery app or Google Photos, open the photo and tap the info (i) icon to see the capture date and other details.

On a computer

Right-click the photo file and choose Properties, then Details, to see the date taken from the photo's EXIF data.

Why it's useful

It's handy when you're not sure exactly when a photo was taken, want to sort travel photos chronologically, or are trying to piece together a memory.

Know exactly when a photo was taken

If you have photos mixed together in storage and can't quite remember when one was taken, checking its capture date gives you the exact moment instead of relying on guesswork.

Want to remove the location data instead?

If you'd rather strip the location info from a photo before sharing it, most devices offer a way to remove that metadata separately, which is worth knowing for privacy reasons.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do screenshots also record a taken date?

Screenshots do record the date and time they were captured, but they don't include camera-related metadata like location, since there's no camera involved.

Does moving a file change its taken date?

The taken date embedded in the photo itself (EXIF) generally stays the same when you move the file, though the file system's "date modified" can change separately.