How to geotag photos on a Mac
There are three sensible ways to geotag photos on a Mac, and which one fits depends on how many photos you have and whether you know where each one was taken. For a few photos from one place, the Photos app is enough. For a day of shooting with a camera that has no GPS, match the photos against a GPS track. This page walks through both, and where Lightroom fits.
A few photos, one place: the Photos app
Photos on the Mac can assign a location to photos in your library:
- Select one or more photos and open the Info window (Command-I).
- Type a place or address in the location field and choose a suggestion.
- To reuse a location, choose Image ▸ Location ▸ Copy Location on a tagged photo, select the others, and choose Image ▸ Location ▸ Assign Location.
That works when every photo in the selection was taken in the same spot. It does not know where you were at 10:14 versus 10:32, so a walk, a ride or a road trip ends up with one pin for everything.
A day of shooting: match photos to a GPS track
If something recorded where you went, every photo can have its own position. The camera writes the capture time into each file; the track holds a position for every moment. A geotagging app lines the two up and writes the result into the files.
The track can come from your iPhone or from any device that exports GPX: a Garmin watch, a handheld GPS, an action camera or a tracking app.
Step by step on a Mac with EasyGeotag
- Open the track. A trip recorded on your iPhone appears on the Mac through your own iCloud account. For a file from another device, choose Open GPX File… or drop the GPX onto the window. The last eight files you opened stay under Recent Files.
- Open the photos. Open the card's folder, or drag it onto the window. JPEG, HEIC and RAW can be mixed in one folder. Search by filename and switch between a thumbnail grid and a list.
- Check the matching controls. Set the camera clock offset (or use Set From a Photo… with a photo of your phone's clock), the match window and the photo timezone.
- Review. Every photo sits on the map along the track and shows how far it was from the nearest real GPS fix. Drag a photo onto the map to place one that did not match.
- Choose what to tag. Select All, or choose a range. Photos that already contain GPS are marked, and can be skipped automatically.
- Geotag. The confirmation sheet says how many files change, how many RAW files will be written with ExifTool, and whether backups are on, before a single byte is written.
RAW files on a Mac
On the Mac, EasyGeotag writes GPS coordinates, altitude and the place name directly into RAW files (NEF, CR3, ARW, RAF, DNG and more) using ExifTool, which is bundled inside the app, so there is nothing to install and no command line. Embedded XMP can be controlled separately for proprietary RAW files and for DNG files. Files modified in place are copied to a backup folder first, on by default. More in the guide to geotagging RAW photos.
Lightroom Classic, before or after
Lightroom Classic can load a GPX tracklog in its Map module and tag photos there; the steps are in geotagging in Lightroom with a GPX tracklog. Many photographers prefer to geotag the card's folder first and import afterwards, so the location is in the files from the start. If the photos are already in your catalog, geotag the originals, then select them in Lightroom and choose Metadata ▸ Read Metadata from Files.
The same workspace on iPad
The iPad runs the same workspace as the Mac, so you can geotag straight from a card reader while travelling. The one difference is RAW: iPadOS cannot run ExifTool, so RAW files get an XMP sidecar instead of being written in place.
Other Mac geotagging apps
EasyGeotag reads GPX tracks and its own iPhone recordings. If you need other track formats or want to copy locations from reference photos, a longer-established Mac app may suit you better; see the HoudahGeo vs EasyGeotag comparison. For camera clock problems, see why photos get geotagged in the wrong place.
What it costs
EasyGeotag is a free download, and one App Store listing covers iPhone, iPad and Mac. Recording trips on the iPhone is free and unlimited. Geotagging comes with five free photos per Apple Account on Mac and iPad, counted across your devices and reinstalls; after that, one $14.99 Bundle purchase covers iPhone, iPad and Mac, and works with Family Sharing. There is no subscription.
Questions
How do I add a location to photos on a Mac?
For a few photos from one place, select them in Photos, open the Info window with Command-I and type a location. For many photos from a walk or trip, match them against a GPS track with a geotagging app such as EasyGeotag.
How do I geotag photos on a Mac from a GPX file?
In EasyGeotag on the Mac, choose Open GPX File… or drop the GPX onto the window, open the folder of photos, check the camera clock offset and timezone, review the matches and press Geotag.
Can I geotag RAW files on a Mac?
Yes. EasyGeotag writes GPS directly into RAW files such as NEF, CR3, ARW, RAF and DNG on the Mac, using the bundled ExifTool. Files modified in place are backed up first by default.
Do I need a GPS logger to geotag photos on a Mac?
No. Your iPhone can record the track with EasyGeotag while you shoot, and the trip appears on your Mac through your own iCloud account.
Will Lightroom see the new locations?
Yes. Geotag before import and the GPS is already in the files. If the photos are already in a Lightroom Classic catalog, select them and choose Metadata, then Read Metadata from Files.
Is EasyGeotag free on the Mac?
It is a free download, and geotagging comes with five free photos per Apple Account on Mac and iPad. One $14.99 Bundle purchase then covers iPhone, iPad and Mac, with Family Sharing.
Free download for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Recording on iPhone is free and unlimited, with five free photos per Apple Account on Mac and iPad. Requires macOS 15, iPadOS 18 or iOS 18.