How do you keep captions and keywords when you export photos from Photos on a Mac?

By Kayabyte · Last updated 11 November 2026

Short answer: in Photos, choose File, Export, Export Unmodified Original and tick the checkbox to export IPTC information as a sidecar XMP file. That puts the IPTC metadata and keywords in a small .xmp file next to each photo. Apple’s page does not say whether captions, favourites or dates are in that file, so check one before you rely on it. AlbumRescue, a Mac app we make, writes an .xmp sidecar for every file it exports with captions, keywords, favourites and dates, and it can do this from a library that Photos will not open.

This guide is based on Apple’s Photos User Guide page on exporting photos, checked 11 November 2026. Menu names can change between macOS versions.

1. What Apple’s page says

Export Unmodified Original exports photos in the original file format in which they were imported into your library.
A Live Photo is exported as two separate files, a still-image file and a video file.
A checkbox, Export IPTC as XMP, exports IPTC information (assigned IPTC metadata and keywords) as a sidecar XMP file.
You can choose how files are named (titles, filenames, or sequential numbers with optional text) and a subfolder format, or None to export individual files.

The page says nothing more about which fields an XMP file holds, and it does not describe what a standard JPEG or TIFF export keeps. Do a test with one photo that has a caption, a keyword and a favourite mark, open the .xmp file in a text editor, and see what is in it.

2. Steps in Photos

Open Photos and select the photos to export.
Choose File, Export, Export Unmodified Original.
Tick the checkbox to export IPTC as XMP.
Choose a file name method and, if you want folders, a subfolder format.
Click Export, choose a location and click Export Originals.

One export covers the photos you selected. To get folders that match your albums, you export album by album. See how to export Photos albums to folders.

3. Things to know before you rely on the sidecars

An unmodified original is not your edit. The export is the file as it was imported, not the edited version.
Originals must be on the Mac. If Photos keeps only a smaller copy because of Optimize Mac Storage, there may be no original to export. See are your original photos really on your Mac.
Other programs differ in what they read from sidecars. Look at the documentation of the program you are moving to, or test with one photo, before you move thousands.
Keep the sidecar next to its photo and don’t rename one without the other.

4. When Photos will not open the library

If the library is on a drive that will not open, comes from an old Mac or is damaged, the export above is not available. Try the free routes first: copy the library, hold Option while opening it, and see the library could not be opened guide.

Where AlbumRescue adds something

AlbumRescue reads a Photos library on an external drive, from an old Mac, in a damaged copy or in a Time Machine backup, and saves folders that follow your albums, with the original files. It is read only: it never opens or changes the library, and it works offline with no account and no AI.

Each file gets a sidecar <name>.xmp with captions, keywords, favourites and dates.
Photos can import keywords from a sidecar but not People. Turn on Also put People names in the keywords to keep names searchable, when the source has them.
Live Photos come as the still and the video. RAW plus JPEG pairs come as both files.
A CSV report lists every item, and every skipped item with its reason. Files are real copies, each read back after writing.

What it can’t do: it can’t get originals that stayed in iCloud under Optimize Mac Storage, it does not export edits, People names are not read from journals (Time Machine copies), and it does not write into Photos, so albums do not go back there through it. Smart albums are named in the report but not exported as folders. Shared albums, iPhoto libraries and libraries from macOS 10.14 or earlier are not supported. Libraries from macOS older than 26 were tested only on synthetic test libraries.

Steps with AlbumRescue

Open AlbumRescue and choose the library. A library on an external drive can be chosen without Full Disk Access: click Choose a Library.
Click Scan. Read Overview and Before you pay, which say how many originals are really in the copy.
Choose Export, pick what to include and a destination. A new folder is made inside it.
Open one .xmp file in a text editor and compare it with the photo’s caption and keywords in Photos.

The scan, lists, comparison and 5 saved photos are free, so you can look at a real sidecar before paying. The full export is USD 34 one time, for 2 Macs, with one year of updates and a 30-day refund. macOS 15 or later.

Download AlbumRescue and scan for free

Questions

Will Photos read the sidecars if I import them again? According to our help page, Photos can import keywords from a sidecar but not People.

A photo in two albums? AlbumRescue copies it into both folders, and the export sheet shows how much room that takes.

Does the scan change my library? No. AlbumRescue reads a private copy of the database.

Apple, Mac, macOS, iCloud and Time Machine are trademarks of Apple Inc. AlbumRescue is made by Kayabyte and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple.