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Google Photos Backup to a NAS: Synology, QNAP and Others, Dates Intact

Back up Google Photos to a Synology, QNAP or other NAS with Google Takeout, fix the dates before copying, and get a timeline that is right in Synology Photos and QuMagie.

To back up Google Photos to a NAS, export the library with Google Takeout, write the dates and places from the .json files into the photos on your computer, and then copy the finished folder to the NAS's photo share. Synology Photos, QNAP QuMagie and other NAS photo apps read the date inside each photo and ignore Google's .json files, so the fix has to happen before the copy. No NAS app can pull your Google Photos library directly any more.

Why your NAS cannot sync with Google Photos

Synology's Cloud Sync and QNAP's HBS 3 can sync Google Drive, not Google Photos. Since 31 March 2025, Google's Photos API only lets outside apps see photos those apps uploaded themselves, so no NAS app or script can read the library you uploaded from your phone. Google Takeout is the only complete export.

Step 1: Export with Google Takeout

  1. On a computer, go to takeout.google.com and click Deselect all.
  2. Tick Google Photos and click Next step.
  3. Choose Export once, .zip and 10 GB or 50 GB parts.
  4. Click Create export and download every part from the email within 7 days.

Every setting is explained in how to download all your Google Photos. You can save the zip files straight onto a NAS share, but unpacking tens of thousands of small files over the network is slow. A local disk is faster for the work.

Step 2: See why it must be fixed first

Copy an unfixed Takeout folder to the NAS and Synology Photos or QuMagie will put thousands of photos on the day of the copy. Here is why:

  • Screenshots, chat images, scans, edited photos and anything you re-dated in Google Photos have no date taken inside the file. The real date is only in the .json file next to them.
  • Without that date, the NAS app falls back to the file's modified date, which is the day you unzipped or copied.
  • Locations added in Google Photos are in the .json files too, so the map stays empty.
  • Album folders hold extra copies of photos already in the year folders.

Step 3: Write the dates into the photos

With Takeout JSON Metadata Fixer on Windows or Mac:

  1. Choose Takeout .zip and add all parts.
  2. As destination, pick a local folder, or the NAS share itself. On Windows, map the share first: in File Explorer, right-click This PC, Map network drive, and enter \\your-nas\photo. On a Mac, Finder, Go, Connect to Server, smb://your-nas/photo.
  3. Choose a folder layout. Year / Month works well with any NAS app.
  4. Run a Dry run, check the preview, then run it for real.

The app writes the date taken and GPS position into each photo and sets the file dates. Exact copies already in the destination are skipped, so album copies do not double your library. The first 500 photos are free; Premium is $19.99 once.

Free alternatives: exiftool (tested commands), GooglePhotosTakeoutHelper, or immich-go if you run Immich on the NAS.

Step 4: Copy to the NAS

Synology. Copy into the shared photo folder, or into homes/<you>/Photos for your personal space in Synology Photos. Use File Explorer or Finder over SMB, or File Station in the browser for smaller batches.

QNAP. Copy into the Multimedia share or a folder you have added as a content source in QuMagie.

Other NAS or a home server. Any share works. If you run Immich, Nextcloud or PhotoPrism, point it at the folder after the copy. See Google Photos to Immich and Google Takeout to Nextcloud.

Step 5: Let it index, then check

  1. Wait for indexing to finish. Synology Photos and QuMagie create thumbnails for every photo; a large library takes hours.
  2. Open the timeline and scroll to a few years you know. The photos should sit on the days they were taken.
  3. Open the map view and check a trip.
  4. Compare the photo count with Google Photos.

If photos still show the copy date, they were copied before the fix, or they had no .json file at all. Synology-specific details are in Google Photos to a Synology NAS.

Step 6: A NAS is not the last copy

A NAS with RAID survives a failed disk, not a fire, theft or a mistaken delete. Use Synology Hyper Backup or QNAP HBS 3 to copy the photo folder to a USB drive or another location. For new photos, see keep your Google Photos backup up to date.

The full guide to backups, including drives and PCs, is Google Photos backup.

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