How to Add or Fix Location in Apple Photos (Including Scanned & Imported Photos)
Apple Photos keeps location in its own library, not in the file — so it doesn't follow your photos elsewhere. Here's how to embed real GPS that shows up everywhere.
There is a specific Apple Photos frustration that surfaces often: you add a location to a photo — using the Adjust option in the info panel, or by editing on a Mac — and everything looks right in your library. The photo appears on the Map tab. But you share it with someone, open it in another app, or transfer it to a new device, and the location is nowhere to be found. Or: you import a set of scanned family prints, and they appear in your library with no location at all, because a flatbed scanner records no GPS.
Both situations share the same root cause, and the same fix.
TL;DR: Apple Photos stores location edits in its own library database — not embedded in the image file. When a photo leaves the Photos ecosystem, the location stays behind. The fix is to embed real GPS coordinates into the file's EXIF metadata. For imported or scanned photos that have no location to begin with, RetroTagr detects the place from visual cues in the image — landmarks, architecture, signage — with no original GPS required. Embed the GPS, re-import into Apple Photos, and the location follows the photo everywhere.
Why Apple Photos location doesn't stick
Apple Photos operates on a non-destructive editing model. When you edit a photo — adjust brightness, crop, rotate, or set a location — those changes are stored in Apple's library database as instructions layered on top of the original file. The original file on disk stays untouched. This is by design: it lets you revert any edit at any time.
Location edits follow the same pattern. When you use Adjust Location, Apple records the coordinates in its library. The photo appears on the Map tab. If iCloud Photos is on, the change syncs to your other Apple devices. All of this is real — but it lives in Apple's ecosystem, not in the image file.
When you export the photo, share it via AirDrop, attach it to an email, or open it in a third-party app, what goes out is the image file. And if GPS was not embedded in that file to begin with, it is not in the copy that leaves. The location you set exists in Apple's database — not in the file itself.
This is not a bug. It is a deliberate side effect of non-destructive editing, combined with Apple's privacy-conscious approach to location data: you control what leaves the device on export. But the practical result, for anyone moving photos between apps, people, or platforms, is that location edits often do not travel with the file.
The fix: embed GPS into the file
The solution is to write GPS coordinates into the EXIF metadata of the image file itself — the part that travels with the file wherever it goes. Once GPS is in the EXIF, every app that reads standard image metadata sees it: Apple Photos, Google Photos, Windows File Explorer, social networks, archival software, and anything else that handles images.
Here is the workflow, step by step.
1. Find photos missing location. In Apple Photos, open the Map view from the sidebar. Photos absent from the map have no location data anywhere — they are the obvious candidates. But appearing on the map does not mean the file itself contains GPS: a location set via Adjust Location lives only in Apple's library, not in the file. When in doubt, run the photo through the steps below. You can also check individual photos: open a photo, press ⌘I, and look at the location row.
2. Export and upload to RetroTagr. Export the photo from Apple Photos (File → Export → Export Unmodified Original to preserve any existing metadata) and drag it into RetroTagr. You do not need to know where it was taken. RetroTagr's AI reads what is in the frame — recognisable landmarks, architectural style, street signage, road markings, terrain, vegetation — and proposes a location with a confidence level. This is the differentiator from most geotagging tools: you do not supply the location; RetroTagr infers it.
3. Confirm or refine the suggested place. Review the suggested location. For well-known places — a famous monument, a recognisable skyline, a distinctive street scene — the confidence will be high and the suggestion accurate enough to accept. For less distinctive scenes, check it against what you remember, use the chat interface to add context, or drop the pin manually if you know the place.
4. Download the geotagged file. Accept the location and download the file. RetroTagr writes GPS coordinates into the image file's EXIF — not a sidecar, not a separate database entry, but the actual file data. What you download is an image with GPS embedded in the standard place every photo app expects to find it.
5. Re-import into Apple Photos. Drag the downloaded file back into your Photos library. Apple Photos reads the embedded GPS on import, plots the photo at the correct location on your Map, and from that point the GPS is part of the file. Export it, share it, open it in another app — the location comes with it.
Scanned and imported photos with no location
The workflow above works well when the photo once had a location, or when you know roughly where it was taken. For scanned family photos, images imported from old cameras, or pictures received via messaging apps, neither is often true.
A flatbed scanner records no GPS. A photo saved from WhatsApp has had its metadata stripped. An inherited box of prints, scanned to JPEG, arrives in your library with no location and no context. These photos need a different entry point: not a location you supply, but one the AI infers from the image.
RetroTagr is built for this case. The AI reads visual content — skylines, building styles, signage in particular languages, natural landmarks, even details like which side of the road traffic drives on — and proposes a location based on what is visible. For photos with enough distinctive content, this works well and confidence is high. For very generic scenes, tight indoor portraits without windows, or heavily blurred images, the AI may not be able to make a useful suggestion. Those photos are flagged, and you can tag them manually if you know the place or set them aside.
This is genuinely different from what Apple Photos offers on its own. The built-in editor lets you set a location you already know. RetroTagr reasons about where the photo was taken when you do not.
What about iCloud and sharing
Once GPS is embedded in the file and you have re-imported it into Apple Photos, iCloud handles it the same as any other library item. It syncs the file and its embedded GPS across your devices. The location that previously existed only in Apple's database now lives inside the file itself.
For sharing and export: the embedded GPS travels with every copy. The person receiving the file, the app opening it, the service storing it — all of them see the GPS in the standard EXIF field, regardless of platform.
One practical note on iCloud storage optimisation: if you have "Optimise Mac Storage" enabled, iCloud may have replaced the full-resolution file on your Mac with a smaller preview. In that case, use File → Export → Export Unmodified Original to retrieve the actual file before uploading to RetroTagr. This ensures you are working with the real image, not a proxy.
Getting started
For a single photo or a small set, this workflow takes a few minutes. If you have a larger archive — scanned prints, years of imported photos from an old device — the same process runs at scale. See how to batch geotag photos for the full batch workflow.
RetroTagr's free tier includes five AI location suggestions, which is enough to try the approach on a few photos and see how it handles your particular archive before working through a larger set.