How-to
Import Snapchat Memories into Google Photos or Apple Photos
The whole point of saving your Memories is to have them sit naturally in your real photo library, on the day they happened, in the place they happened. If you import the raw Snapchat export, you get the opposite: a giant clump of photos all dated today with no map. Here is how to do it properly.
First, fix the metadata
Google Photos and Apple Photos both decide where a photo belongs by reading its embedded date and GPS. Snapchat's export has neither, so the first step is always to restore that metadata before you import anything. Run your export through SnapRescue, which writes the real capture date and location into each file and organizes them into dated folders. (If you have not exported yet, start with how to export your Memories.)
Why this order matters: once a photo is in Google or Apple Photos with the wrong date, fixing thousands of them by hand inside the app is miserable. Getting the metadata right before import means they just land in the correct spot automatically.
Google Photos
- From a computer: go to photos.google.com, click Upload, and select your rescued folders. Google reads the embedded date and GPS and files each photo on the right day and map location.
- Using backup: drop the rescued folders into a folder that Google's Backup and Sync (or Drive for desktop) watches, and they upload automatically.
- Because the dates are embedded in the files, you do not need to do anything special. They will appear throughout your timeline on the correct days, not all on upload day.
Apple Photos
- On a Mac: open the Photos app and drag your rescued folders into the window, or use File, Import. Photos reads the embedded capture date and location and places everything correctly.
- On iPhone or iPad: the easiest route is to import on a Mac, or copy the rescued folders into iCloud Drive and add them to Photos from the Files app. If you turn on iCloud Photos, they sync to all your devices on the right dates.
What you end up with
Your Snapchat Memories blended into your normal photo timeline, each on the day it was actually taken, pinned to the right spot on the map, with captions merged on. No clump on today's date, no blank locations. Exactly as if you had taken them with your phone's camera all along.