How to use the rename photos by capture date
- Choose your photos. The capture date is read from JPEG photos that carry EXIF data; other pictures are listed without a date.
- Set the name pattern, using tokens such as {YYYY}, {MM}, {DD}, {hh}, {mm}, {ss}, {n} (a counter) and {name} (the old name).
- Choose what happens to photos with no capture date: keep their name or use the file date.
- Check the table of new names, then download the renamed copies in a ZIP, or the list as a CSV file.
Formula
Capture date: DateTimeOriginal in the EXIF block, else the digitized time, else the general date and time tag
Photos are sorted by capture date, with ties in order of their old names
Tokens: {YYYY} year, {YY} two-digit year, {MM} month, {DD} day, {hh} hour, {mm} minute, {ss} second
Counter {n} starts where you choose, with the digits you choose; a name that is already taken gets (2), (3), ...
The camera clock sets the date, and EXIF stores local time without a zone, so no time zone conversion is done.
Four photos renamed
Take a photo with the capture time 2026:03:08 10:30:00, another from 2024:07:04 09:15:30, a scan with no date and a second photo taken in the same second as the first. With the default pattern {YYYY}-{MM}-{DD} {hh}.{mm}.{ss}, the first becomes 2026-03-08 10.30.00.jpg, the second 2024-07-04 09.15.30.jpg, the scan keeps its name, and the same-second photo becomes 2026-03-08 10.30.00 (2).jpg.
With the pattern trip_{n}_{name}, a counter starting at 10 and 4 digits, the photos are numbered in the order they were taken: the older photo gets trip_0010 and the newer ones follow, whatever their old numbers were.
Where the date comes from
Digital cameras and phones write the moment of capture into the EXIF block of each JPEG photo. That date stays with the file even if it is copied or edited later, unlike the file date that changes when you move it. The page reads the original capture time, falls back to the digitized time and then to the general date tag, and shows which photos had none.
Photos from messaging apps and screenshots usually have no EXIF date, and some editors remove it. To see what a photo contains, use the image metadata viewer and remover or the JPEG structure viewer. For other renaming, such as find and replace, use the bulk file renamer.
Good habits
A date-first name sorts in time order in any file list, and the counter keeps names unique when several photos share a second, as in burst shooting. Keep the originals until you have checked the copies. The renamed files are exact copies of the originals apart from the name, so nothing about the picture changes, and the page never uploads anything.
If a trip mixes cameras with different clocks, the order may be off by the difference between them. You can fix the clock offset with the EXIF tools elsewhere before you rename. To make the photos smaller for sharing, use the image compressor.
Assumptions and limits
- Capture dates are read from the first 256 KB of each JPEG, where the EXIF block lives.
- Up to 100 photos at 25 MB each, and 100 MB in total.
- Characters not allowed in file names are replaced by underscores.
- Names are limited to 180 characters. Case is kept, except extensions are made lowercase if you choose.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the date come from?
From the EXIF information the camera stored in the photo, not from the file date. DateTimeOriginal is used first.
What if a photo has no EXIF date?
It keeps its name, or gets a name from its file date if you choose that option.
Are my originals changed?
No. You download renamed copies in a ZIP, and the photo data is exactly the same.
What if two photos have the same second?
The second gets (2) added to the name, or use {n} in the pattern to give each a number.