Guide
How to fix Snapchat EXIF dates on a Mac and get them into Apple Photos
You exported your Snapchat Memories on your Mac, dragged them into Apple Photos — and every memory landed on today's date with no map pin. The dates and locations aren't gone; Snapchat just never wrote them into the files. Here's how to put them back on a Mac and import a clean, correctly-sorted library.
Why Apple Photos shows the wrong date and no location
Apple Photos reads each item's date from the file's own EXIF metadata (photos) and QuickTime atoms (videos), and its map from the GPS stored in those same fields. Your iPhone camera always fills them in, so camera shots sort and map themselves. Snapchat's export does not — it leaves those fields blank and keeps the real capture time and coordinates in a separate memories_history.json manifest. With nothing to read, Apple Photos falls back to the import date and drops everything off the map.
The fix: write the dates and GPS into the files first
On a Mac you have two ways to run MemoriesExport, and both write the real metadata back before you import. The reliable approach is to fix the files first, then import once — see how the capture date is restored for the EXIF detail. MemoriesExport reads your export's JSON and writes EXIF DateTimeOriginal into each photo, the QuickTime creation-date atoms into each video, and GPS into both — including the Keys:GPSCoordinates atom Apple Photos specifically needs to put a video on the map. More on that in adding location back.
Use the native Mac app for a fully offline fix
The Mac app runs entirely on your computer — your photos and videos never leave your device, and it works without an internet connection. Point it at your downloaded export folder (or all the mydata~*.zip parts of a large library), let it write the dates, GPS and overlays, and it hands back a ready-to-import copy. It's the best choice for big libraries because there's nothing to upload or re-download, and it's the version that burns Snapchat overlays onto videos, not just photos. Prefer no install? The browser route does the same metadata fix; the online vs. desktop comparison breaks down which to pick.
Importing the corrected library into Apple Photos
Once MemoriesExport returns your fixed files, import them into Apple Photos the way you normally would — through the app's File menu import, or by dropping the folder onto your library. Because the dates and GPS now live inside the files, Photos reads them automatically: memories slot into the correct year on your timeline, and both photos and videos appear in Places on the map. If you sync this library through iCloud, the corrected metadata follows the files onto your iPhone and iPad too — which is how you get Snapchat memories fixed on a phone when there's no phone app to do it.
One honest caveat: time-of-day order within a single day
MemoriesExport restores the correct capture date and location reliably. The one thing Snapchat's media-included export can't always pin down is the exact time-of-day order of several memories captured on the same day — the export groups by day but provides no per-item timestamp inside it. So a day's memories land on the right date and map, but their minute-level order within that day may not be perfect. Every other tool faces the same limit; we just won't pretend otherwise.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a Snapchat-fixing app for my iPhone?
- No — there's no iOS or Android app. You fix the EXIF on a Mac (or Windows) computer, or in the browser, then sync the corrected library to your iPhone through Apple Photos / iCloud. The metadata travels with the files, so the dates and map pins follow them onto your phone.
- Why does Apple Photos show my Snapchat videos but never put them on the map?
- Apple Photos reads a video's location from a specific QuickTime atom, Keys:GPSCoordinates, that most tools and native libraries simply can't write. MemoriesExport writes that exact atom with exiftool, which is why your videos finally appear on the map alongside the photos.
- Should I fix the files before or after importing to Apple Photos?
- Before. Apple Photos largely commits to the date and location it reads at import, and re-editing thousands of items by hand is painful. Fix the EXIF and QuickTime metadata on the files first, then import the corrected copies once.
- Can the Mac app handle a huge multi-part export?
- Yes. Large libraries arrive as several mydata~*.zip parts, and MemoriesExport handles all of them as one export — the manifest only needs to be in one part. The desktop app processes everything locally, so nothing uploads.