Google Photos Matcher (v2.0)

Simple tool to restore metadata (date, GPS coordinates, etc.) from Google Photos JSON files back into your original images and videos — just like MetadataFixer, but free and open source!

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How it works 📖

When you download media from Google Photos via Takeout, the files lose important metadata such as the date taken and GPS coordinates. Google stores this data separately in .json sidecar files.

GPMatcher reads those JSONs and writes the metadata back into your photos and videos automatically.

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Usage (EXE — no setup required) 🚀

1. Download your Google Photos media from Google Takeout

2. Download and run GPMatcher.exe — no installation, Python, or additional libraries needed. The EXE is fully standalone.

3. (Optional) Enter the custom suffix used for edited photos (explained inside the app)

4. Select the folder containing your images/videos and their JSONs (e.g. Photos from 2022 or the root Takeout folder)

   The app will automatically scan all subfolders

5. Click the Match button

6. Your matched files will appear in a Matched folder inside the selected directory

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FAQs ❓

Why is there a folder called EditedRaw?

Photos edited in Google Photos have two versions:

Folder	Content
Matched	Edited version
EditedRaw	Original (unedited) version

Why do some files stay unmatched?

Special characters in filenames can prevent the algorithm from matching them. To fix this:

1. Rename both the image and its JSON — e.g. %E&xample.jpg → Example.jpg and %E&xample.json → Example.json
2. Open the JSON and update the title field to match the new filename
3. Run GPMatcher again

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For developers 🛠️

Prerequisites: Create a virtual environment at the root of the project first:

python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate

Option A — Build the .exe

1. Install build dependencies:

   pip install -r "requirements-dev.txt"
   

2. Download exiftool for Windows (64-bit): direct download or visit exiftool.org

3. Rename exiftool(-k).exe → exiftool.exe

4. Place exiftool.exe and the exiftool_files folder at the root of the project

5. Run this command from the project root:

   pyinstaller --noconsole --onefile --clean --hidden-import PySimpleGUI --icon=assets/photo.ico --name "GPMatcher" --distpath "." --add-data "exiftool.exe;." --add-data "assets/photo.ico;." --paths files files/window.py
   

GPMatcher.exe will appear at the project root — ready to use!

Option B — Run without building

1. Install runtime dependencies:

   pip install -r "requirements.txt"
   

2. Run:

   python files/window.py
   

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Contributors ✒️

• anderbggo — Author
• Kadawatcha — Contributor

Buy me a coffee ☕