The Google Photos redesign broke something I use every day. Here's how to fix it

If you’ve used Google Photos for years, as I and probably most people reading this have, there are certain features and creature comforts you’ve likely come to rely on. For me personally, one of those is seeing my photos organized by the date they were taken.

It’s a simple thing, but I love it. I like quickly scrolling through my Photos feed and knowing exactly when certain pictures or videos were captured. It helps me remember what I was doing on that specific date and keeps my app feeling nice and organized.

Unfortunately, that quietly disappeared from Google Photos earlier this year. Google didn’t make a big deal about it, but it happened. One of the most fundamental ways I use Photos was there one day and gone the next.

Thankfully, there is a way to bring it back, and I’m going to show you how.

When did Google Photos remove dates from the home screen?

Google removed dates from the Photos app home screen as part of its big Android app redesign that rolled out in early July. Notably, this update added the new floating bar UI to the bottom navigation area, giving Google Photos a much cleaner overall appearance.

For the most part, the redesign was positively received. My colleague Taylor said he wanted Photos’ nav bar design in every Google app, and according to our reader poll, 68% of you said you thought the new UI looked great. From a visual standpoint, I agree.

However, it also came at the cost of functionality. As you can see in the image above, the Photos app does still show the date at the top of the screen, but it’s a floating bar that dynamically changes as you scroll. All of your photos are lumped together in a single list, meaning there’s no clear delineation between the end of one day and the start of the next — and it’s been driving me crazy.

How to add dates back to the Photos home screen

The good news? You can restore the old date grid view in this new Google Photos redesign. It took me longer than I’d like to admit to find it, but the option is there, hiding deep in the app settings.

So, how do you do it? Follow these steps:

1. Open the Google Photos app.
2. Tap your profile icon in the upper-right corner.
3. Tap Photos settings.
4. Tap Preferences.
5. Tap Photos view.
6. Tap the toggle next to Show dates in grid to enable (it’s turned off by default).

Now, go back to your Photos home screen, and you’ll see your library with clear, distinct date markers. The floating date pill still appears at the top of the screen as you scroll, but having the dates permanently above each specific day instantly makes the Photos app feel 10x more organized.

I understand from an aesthetic perspective that removing dates from the home screen is cleaner and more minimalist, but if you ask me, it’s a case of form over function. It may look prettier, but it also makes the app more cumbersome to use.

It is annoying that Google hides the date grid setting and doesn’t make its existence clear, but I’m ultimately happy we can still bring it back. Google Photos is a much better experience with dates in the grid, and if you’ve been in a fit not having them like I was, hopefully this helped.