Google Photos still has a setting that restores date headers in the grid. On Android, the redesigned Photos view switched those headers off by default and replaced them with a floating date indicator that appears while scrolling.
There are two ways to show dates in Google Photos again: Profile icon → Photos settings → Preferences → Photos view → Show dates in grid, or through the overflow menu that appears alongside the floating date indicator.
Google's Android redesign began rolling out broadly in July 2026, replacing the app's always-visible date headers with a floating pill that appears while scrolling and then fades out, according to 9to5Google.
Without fixed headers, photos run together as one continuous stream with no clear visual break between one day and the next. Android Authority confirmed that the old date-grid view can still be restored.
The Google Photos redesign date setting, explained
The redesign uses two separate floating elements, and it's worth telling them apart before changing anything.
One is the new bottom navigation bar: a rounded pill hovering above the grid with tabs for Photos, Collections, and Create, plus a circular button on the right that opens Search and the Gemini-powered Ask Photos feature.
The other is the date indicator: a separate floating label at the top of the screen that appears while scrolling and disappears shortly afterward.
Turning on Show dates in grid restores permanent date labels between groups of photos. It doesn't restore the old bottom navigation bar, which has no documented toggle for returning to the previous layout.
Menu wording and availability can vary slightly by app version and rollout status, so make sure Google Photos is up to date if the option isn't where expected.
How to show photo dates on the Google Photos home screen
The Settings route is the most direct way to restore permanent date labels:
Open the Google Photos app.
Tap the profile icon in the upper-right corner.
Tap Photos settings.
Tap Preferences.
Tap Photos view.
Turn on Show dates in grid.
The setting is off by default in the redesigned Android view.
Once enabled, labels such as "Today," "Yesterday," or the calendar date appear between groups of photos again. The restored labels are centered rather than left-aligned as they were in the older design.
The floating date indicator can still appear while scrolling even after permanent date headers are enabled.
Bring back dates in Google Photos from the grid
There's also a faster route that avoids digging through the main Settings menu.
Open the Photos tab and scroll down until the floating date indicator appears at the top of the screen.
Tap the three-dot overflow menu beside it.
Open Photos view if prompted.
Enable Show dates in grid.
The Verge also documented the overflow-menu route for restoring the gaps between days.
If the three-dot menu doesn't appear, use the Settings route instead.
How to show dates in Google Photos on iPhone
The date-grid control is available on both iOS and Android.
On iPhone, iPhone in Canada documents the same Settings path:
Open Google Photos.
Tap your profile picture or initials.
Open Photos settings.
Tap Preferences.
Tap Photos view.
Turn Show dates in grid on.
The broader floating-navigation redesign reached iOS before Android, appearing on iPhone in February 2026.
If Show dates in grid isn't available, update Google Photos and check again after the latest app and server-side changes have reached the account.
How readers reacted to losing the dates
Android Authority's informal reader poll found that 88% wanted dates on the Google Photos home screen, 4% preferred no dates, and 8% didn't care either way.
A separate reader poll on the broader redesign found 68% thought the new interface looked great.
Both are informal reader polls rather than representative studies, so the numbers show sentiment among participating readers rather than Google Photos users as a whole.
Google said the new controls were added in response to user feedback. Shimrit Ben-Yair, Google's VP and GM for Google Photos, Google One, and AI subscriptions, described the changes as two small fixes based on user requests.
The other control added alongside the date setting lets users disable the shimmer animation used when creating stickers.
If Google Photos dates are not showing
If the setting is missing after you've followed the steps above, check the app version and rollout status before assuming the option has been removed.
The redesign hasn't reached your account. The Android floating-bar redesign rolled out through a server-side update around Google Photos versions 7.82 and 7.83. Because the change is partly server-controlled, installing the latest app version doesn't necessarily make it appear immediately.
The overflow menu hasn't appeared. It shows up while scrolling through the Photos grid rather than sitting permanently on-screen. Scroll down until the floating date indicator and its menu appear.
The menu still won't show. Use Profile icon → Photos settings → Preferences → Photos view → Show dates in grid instead.
If neither route exposes the setting, make sure the app is current and check again after the rollout reaches the account.
What Google Photos date labels in the photo grid change
Enabling Show dates in grid restores visible day-by-day separation between photos.
The restored labels are centered, whereas the older Google Photos design displayed them left-aligned.
The setting changes only how date headers appear in the Photos grid. It doesn't alter photo metadata, change capture dates, or reorganize the underlying library.
It also doesn't bring back the previous docked navigation bar. Gadget Hacks found no documented setting for restoring that older navigation layout.
Show dates in Google Photos permanently
Turning on Show dates in grid, whether through Settings or the floating date indicator's overflow menu, restores permanent date dividers between groups of photos.
The floating date indicator may still appear while scrolling, but the grid no longer depends on that temporary label to show where one day ends and another begins.
Google also added an option to disable the sticker-shimmer animation alongside the date-grid control.
The date headers can be restored. The old docked navigation bar currently can't.
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