GOOGLE TAKEOUT GUIDE · JSON FILES
What are the JSON files in Google Photos Takeout for?
A Google Photos export may place small JSON files alongside images and videos. They are neither unreadable copies of your photos nor files to merge at random: they are separate metadata files that must be interpreted alongside the media they probably describe.
7 min read · Guide updated 20 August 2026
KEY POINTS
What to know before organizing your files
- A JSON file contains structured information; it is not a photo.
- The JSON file name, its title field and its folder can help identify the associated media.
- A match may be missing or ambiguous: reporting that uncertainty is safer than forcing a match.
- PhotosClaires reads and matches files locally, but rewrites no metadata.
TWO FILES, TWO PURPOSES
The JSON complements the media without replacing it
The media—for example, a .jpg, .heic, .mov or .mp4 file—contains the image or video. The .json file contains structured text in key/value pairs. An application can read a title, a date or other information related to the exported item from it.
Google explains that metadata added in Google Photos but not present in the original file, such as some comments, is downloaded in a secondary JSON file. This is why the archive may contain both formats side by side.
Official source: Google Photos Help—Download your data, section on photo and video metadata.
READ WITHOUT OVERINTERPRETING
What a media JSON file may tell you
The exact structure can vary. In files recognized by PhotosClaires, the following fields are particularly useful to the scan:
title: a media name declared in the metadata;photoTakenTime: an available photo-taken date;creationTime: an available creation date, used only as a fallback in the report;- source, archive or favorite markers that help identify a JSON file associated with media.
MATCH METHODICALLY
How to link a JSON file to the right media file
The simple case is a JSON file whose name repeats the media file name in the same folder. Metadata suffixes, numbered variants and some long names can make matching more difficult. The title field then provides another clue.
- Keep the full extracted structure
Work with the complete folder instead of a selection of isolated JSON files.
- Compare names and folders first
An exact local match is stronger than a matching name found elsewhere in the export.
- Use the title field carefully
It can help, but the same file name may occur more than once.
- Keep unresolved cases separate
An orphaned JSON file or several equally ranked candidates must remain flagged as such.
The PhotosClaires scan automates this inventory: it counts matched JSON files, JSON files with no reliable match and ambiguous matches. It does not select media at random when several candidates are equivalent.
BEFORE ANY CLEAN-UP
Four common mistakes with JSON files
- Treating them as corrupted images. JSON is a data-file format, not a photo format.
- Deleting them before taking an inventory. You may lose separate information that is useful for understanding the export.
- Matching solely by similar names. Numbered variants and identical names can produce a false match.
- Confusing diagnosis with correction. Knowing that a date is available in a JSON file does not mean that it has been written into the media.
Before performing any operation in another application, keep an untouched copy of the archive and check a sample of matches.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Questions about Google Takeout JSON files
Can I open a JSON file?
Yes, with a text editor. Its contents are designed to be read as structured data; avoid saving the file if you want to preserve the original export.
Does every photo necessarily have an associated JSON file?
Do not assume that it does. An export may contain unrecognized, missing or ambiguous items. An inventory must distinguish matched items from unmatched ones.
Does the JSON file contain the photo?
No. It describes information related to the media, while the pixels or video remain in the media file.
Does PhotosClaires merge the JSON file into the image?
No. The beta diagnoses matches and can create a new copy organized by reliable dates. It modifies neither the JSON nor the image and does not claim to produce media with repaired metadata.
CHECK BEFORE YOU ACT
Start by taking stock of your export
PhotosClaires checks the folder you have already extracted, locally in your browser. It is free, requires no account and uploads nothing. No file is renamed, corrected, moved or deleted.
Start the free scan