View the EXIF date/time when a JPG or HEIC photo or a video was taken

JPG and HEIC photos will contain camera-specific EXIF metadata which gives information about the time and date the photo was taken, the phone/camera model used to take it, and the technical settings such as focal length and photographic sensitivity (ISO number). Video files also contain metadata.

Checking EXIF camera-specific metadata in a JPG or HEIC file, or video metadata, on a Windows or Mac system

You can use Advanced Renamer to view metadata. Advanced Rename is a program used to change filenames but you can also use it just to display file metadata.

You can use it to display the full metadata for a single file by tapping the Item Details button (at the top left).

O you can select the following columns:

Filename

DateTaken

And then display the values for a list of files all at once as shown in the example below.

Doing a basic check on a phone that EXIF camera-specific metadata is present in an individual JPG or HEIC

You can do a basic check on a phone. If you actually took the photo on the phone you are using then its EXIF data should be intact. But if you are using a phone to look at a photo which has been sent to you, bear in mind that if the app you are using to check (check on whether the photo has intact EXIF data) has a limited panel size, as will normally the case for a phone, the app may try a number of fields in turn looking for a date. So it might display the ordinary file-system date/time of the file, if the EXIF date/time data is missing, and do so in exactly the same position on the screen without warning that that is what it is doing. So the mere fact that a date/time is displayed for the JPG does not necessarily mean that there is full intact camera-specific EXIF data. A useful check is to see whether the ISO number is shown. In the example on the left below the date/time displayed is just the ordinary file-system date/time because the JPG has no EXIF date/time tags. In the example in the centre the JPG was created by scanning in a card photo and the limited EXIF data shows the scanner make/model - again the date/time displayed is just the ordinary file-system date/time. It is only in the example on the right that the JPG does have full camera-specific EXIF data - the date/time displayed (in the same position on the display) is the EXIF date/time but you only know this because of the fact that other camera-specific EXIF data such as ISO number is also shown.

Disclaimer

This information page is designed to be used only by clients of John Antell who have entered into an agreement for the provision of legal services. The information in it is necessarily of a general nature and will not be applicable to every case: it is intended to be used only in conjunction with more specific advice to the individual client about the individual case. This information page should not be used by, or relied on, by anyone else.

The information on this page about specific computer techniques is provided for information purposes only. Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate and up to date at the time it was written but no responsibility for its accuracy, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by me. You should satisfy yourself, before using any of the techniques, software or services described, that the techniques are appropriate for your purposes and that the software or service is reliable.

This page was lasted updated in June 2025. Disclaimer