How to put a date and time in photos in Xiaomi: all the ways

Xiaomi smartphones (including the Redmi and POCO lines) offer powerful cameras, but many users face a problem: standard MIUI firmware does not always store date and time on the images themselves. This creates inconvenience when sorting photos, especially if you often transfer them to your computer or type. In this article, we will discuss 5 working ways to add a time stamp, from hidden camera settings to third-party applications with advanced features.

It is important to understand the difference between EXIF metadata (which stores the date of the shoot, but does not appear on the image itself) and the visible date, a text tag printed in the corner of the photo. The first option is suitable for internal use, the second one is if you want the date to be visible when viewed on any device. We will look at both approaches, as well as nuances for different versions of MIUI (12 to 14) and smartphone models.

1. Xiaomi's built-in camera feature: where to look for a setup?

Some Xiaomi models (especially after 2021) have a hidden option to add a date directly to the camera interface, but its location depends on the MIUI version and regional firmware.

• 📱 Open the Camera app and go to Settings (cog in the upper right corner).
• 🔍 Scroll down to the Additional Settings or Watermark section (in) MIUI 13/14 It could be called a time stamp).
• ⏰ Turn on the Date and Time switch or Time Mark. In some firmwares, you can choose the format (for example, for example, the same format, DD/MM/YYYY HH:MM).
• 🎯 After activation, the date will be automatically placed in one of the corners of the photo (usually at the bottom right).

An important nuance: on budget models (such as the Redmi 9A or POCO M3), this option may not be available, and it is often hidden in Chinese firmware, but is available in global versions of MIUI. If you do not have one on the menu, move on to the next method.

2.Use of watermarks in MIUI Gallery

If your camera doesn't support direct date insertion, you can use the built-in Xiaomi Gallery editor, which adds a date after you've taken the shot, but it works on all models:

1. Open the photo in the Gallery app (not through Google Photos!).
2. Click Edit (pencil icon) → More (three dots) → Watermark.
3. Select a template with a date (usually there are options for Date, Time or Date + Time).
4. Adjust the position, size and transparency of the text, then save a copy.

⚠️ Note: This method leaves the original photo unchanged and adds date only to the saved copy, which is convenient if you want to save "clean" pictures, but remember that the copies take up additional space in memory.

The date format in MIUI Gallery depends on the regional settings of the smartphone. For example, in Russian firmware, the default will be DD.MM.GYG, and in international - MM/DD/YYYY. You can change it only through changing the system language or manual editing in third-party applications.

Open photos in MIUI Gallery (not Google Photos)

Check the free space on the device (copy will take ~2-5 MB)

Choose a template with a minimum font size (so as not to overlap important details)

Save a copy to a separate folder (e.g., “Date Photo”)

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3. Third-party apps: top-3 tag-program

If Xiaomi's built-in tools don't work, look at the specialized apps that offer more options: font selection, text color, automatic date addition, even geolocation. We tested dozens of programs and selected the 3 most reliable ones:

Customization tip: In Timestamp Camera, go to Settings → Date Format and set the yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm format — it is versatile and won’t cause confusion when sorting. Also enable the Auto Stamp option so that the date is added immediately during shooting, not manually.

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Before installing third-party applications, check permissions: the program should only request access to the Camera, Warehouse and Geodata (if geotag is needed). SMS — It's suspicious.

4. Manual addition of date through EXIF-editorial

If you need to add a date to an existing photo (e.g., an old image from an archive), you can use metadata editors, which do not change the image itself, but allow you to put the correct dates in EXIF, which is convenient for sorting in Google Photos or on a PC.

The best tools for this task:

• 📊 EXIF Editor (Android) – allows you to change the shooting date, camera model and other parameters.
• 🖥️ ExifTool (PC) – a powerful utility for batch editing metadata (requires command line knowledge).
• 🌐 Online EXIF Viewer – for example, this service, but do not upload confidential photos there.

Instructions for EXIF Editor:

1. Install the app from Google Play.
2. Select a photo → Edit EXIF → Find the Date/Time Original and Create Date fields.
3. Enter the correct date in YYYY:MM:DD HH:MM:SS format (e.g. 2026:05:15 14:30:00).
4. Save the changes. Now the photo will be sorted by the new date in any gallery.

⚠️ Attention: Change EXIF-Data may lead to conflicts when syncing with cloud services (for example, Google Photos may duplicate photos or reset dates!

5. Hidden MIUI features: how to enable date display in album

Little-known fact: MIUI has a hidden setting that allows you to display the date of the shoot directly on the thumbnails of the photo in the gallery, which does not add text to the image itself, but makes it easier to navigate the albums.

1. Open the Gallery → click on the three dots in the upper right corner → Settings.
2. Scroll to the Display section and turn on the option to Show the date in thumbnails (some versions are called Timetamps).
3. Return to the album, and now each thumbnail will display the date of the shooting.

This feature works even on older models (Redmi 5, Mi A1), but it is often hidden in deep settings. If the option is not in the main menu, try:

• 🔄 Update MIUI Gallery via Google Play (sometimes new features appear after an update).
• 🌍 Change the region of the smartphone to India or China (in settings Additional) → Region), as these firmwares have more features for the camera.

6. Alternative solutions: cloud services and PCs

If you need to add a date to a large number of photos (for example, an archive from a vacation), manual methods will be too long.

Method 1: Google Photos + Add-on

• 📤 Upload photos to Google Photos (they are automatically sorted by the date of the shooting from the photo). EXIF).
• 🔧 Use the Exif Viewer browser extension (e.g., Chrome) to export dates to a text file.
• 🖼️ Process the photo package in Photoshop or GIMP, adding a text layer with dates from the file.

Method 2: Programs for PCs

• 🖥️ FastStone Image Viewer (Windows) – free utility with the function of batch addition of watermarks.
• 🍎 PhotoBulk (Mac) – allows you to add a date to hundreds of photos in a few clicks.
• 🐧 ExifTool + ImageMagick (Linux) – for advanced users (the team below will add a date in the lower right corner):

exiftool '-datetimeoriginal>${filename}_date.txt' *.jpg


for img in *.jpg; do




date=$(exiftool -d "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M" -DateTimeOriginal "$img" | awk 'NR==2{print $4,$5}')




convert "$img" -pointsize 20 -fill white -annotate +10+10 "$date" "dated_$img"




done

⚠️ Note: When batch processing on a PC, always check the result for 2-3 Some programs (such as FastStone) can compress images, reducing the quality of the image.

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For maximum automation, use a combination of methods: set up Timestamp Camera for new photos and process old photos through EXIF Editor or PC software.

FAQ: Frequent questions about the date in the photo in Xiaomi