Google Photos Takeout viewer — browse your export as a timeline
A Google Photos Takeout is the set of .zip or .tgz archives you download from takeout.google.com: year folders and album folders full of photos and videos, plus a small .json file next to each photo that holds the real capture date, GPS location and description. Takeout Photo is a self-hosted viewer that reads those archives in place — without unzipping — and turns them into a private timeline of trips, places and maps on your own computer.
In development — early access by emailWhat is inside a Google Photos Takeout?
When you export Google Photos with Google Takeout, Google splits the export into one or more archive files — .zip or .tgz — chosen by the file size you pick (for example 50 GB per file). Inside the archives you get a Takeout/Google Photos/ folder with one folder per year, your album folders, and your photos and videos.
Next to almost every photo there is also a small JSON sidecar file with the same name plus .json. That sidecar is where Google stores the metadata that matters: the real capture time (photoTakenTime), the GPS coordinates (geoData), the description you wrote, people in the photo, and more. Takeout Photo builds an inventory of what is in your export — which products, which archives, what sizes — so you can see what you have before you open anything.
Why do dates look wrong when you just unzip a Takeout?
If you unzip a Takeout and sort the photos by file date, many of them look wrong — often showing the day you made the export, not the day the photo was taken. The file's own timestamp is unreliable; the truth is in the .json sidecar next to the photo. If a tool ignores the sidecars, every date, place and description is lost or wrong.
Takeout Photo reads the JSON sidecars, so dates and locations are right: each photo shows when it was actually taken and where, and towns and countries are named from the GPS coordinates by reverse geocoding.
How Takeout Photo reads your Takeout in place
You never have to unpack the archives. Point Takeout Photo at a local folder, a Google Drive link, or sign in with Google and pick the archive files in Google's picker — access is read-only and limited to the files you choose. The app reads the .zip and .tgz files directly, so libraries of hundreds of GB work without filling your disk twice.
If you schedule regular Takeout exports, new archives are picked up and merged automatically without duplicating photos you already have.
Trips, places and maps
The Photos app detects where you live and when you moved, plus day trips and holidays, so you can browse your life by journey instead of by raw date. When your export includes Google Location History (Timeline), trips are detected from it and real routes are drawn on the map — flights shown as arcs — using open street data.
AI curation runs on your own machine: it groups near-duplicates and picks the best shots for each trip. You can also add other people's Takeouts — for example your partner's — so their photos attach to the trips you shared.
How to export Google Photos with Google Takeout
- Go to takeout.google.com and sign in with your Google account.
- Deselect everything, then select only Google Photos.
- Click "Next step", choose the delivery method (a download link by email, or directly to your Google Drive), the file type (
.zipor.tgz) and the maximum file size. - Click "Create export" and wait for Google's email — large libraries can take hours or days.
- Download the archives, or copy the Drive link, and point Takeout Photo at them.
Private by design
Everything is processed locally on your computer; your photos are never uploaded to our servers. Google access is read-only and only ever touches the files you pick. See the privacy policy.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is a Google Photos Takeout?
It is the archive Google gives you at takeout.google.com: one or more .zip or .tgz files containing your Google Photos (photos, videos, album folders, year folders) plus a JSON sidecar file next to each photo with its real capture date, GPS location and description.
Do I have to unzip the Takeout archives first?
No. Takeout Photo reads .zip and .tgz archives in place, from a local folder, a Google Drive link, or by signing in with Google and picking the files. You can keep the export exactly as Google delivered it.
Why are the photo dates wrong after unzipping a Takeout?
Because the file's own timestamp is often the export date, not the capture date. The real capture time and GPS coordinates live in the .json sidecar next to each photo, and Takeout Photo reads those, so dates and places come out right.
Can it handle a very large photo library?
Yes — archives are read in place without unpacking, so libraries of hundreds of GB are handled without needing the same space again on disk.
What happens when a new scheduled Takeout export arrives?
New archives are picked up and merged into what you already have, without duplicating photos.
Is anything uploaded to a server?
No. Everything is processed locally on your computer and your photos are never uploaded to our servers. Google sign-in, if you use it, is read-only and limited to the files you pick.
Also works with your Takeout
- See your Google Photos on your Strava activities — photos matched to each activity along the GPS track.
- Move your Google Photos to Proton Photos — albums and metadata kept, full original quality.
- Takeout Photo home — the photo timeline app.