OffsetTimeOriginal: What This Metadata Tag Means
OffsetTimeOriginal stores the time zone of DateTimeOriginal, such as +02:00, so the capture time can be converted to UTC.
Last updated: November 13, 2026
What it means
EXIF dates are local times with no time zone. OffsetTimeOriginal adds the difference from UTC that applied when the photo was taken, for example +02:00 or -05:00. Together with DateTimeOriginal it pins down the exact moment.
Example
- Tag
- OffsetTimeOriginal
- Group in ExifMeta
- EXIF
- Example value
- +02:00
This is how the tag appears in ExifMeta’s results. The value in your file will differ.
Typical values
Values look like +02:00, -05:00, or +05:30: the difference from UTC in hours and minutes. +00:00 means UTC itself, which is also the local time in places such as the UK in winter.
Where it comes from
It was added in EXIF 2.31 in 2016. Recent phones and many recent cameras write it, along with OffsetTime and OffsetTimeDigitized for the other dates.
What it is useful for
It turns a local timestamp into an exact moment. That matters when you compare photos taken by people in different time zones, or line photos up with GPS tracks and other records.
Watch out for
Older devices and many export tools leave it out. Without it, the time zone can only be inferred, for example from GPS time. When both tags are present, ExifTool combines them in the Composite tag SubSecDateTimeOriginal.
Find it in your file
Upload a file to ExifMeta, then type OffsetTimeOriginal into the “Search tags and values” box under All metadata. If nothing matches, the file does not contain this tag.
Learn more in the guide: How to Check When a Photo Was Taken (Date Taken)
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