Windows 10: How can I see dates of previous modifications of files, not just the most recent?

Hello, I am trying to find dates of previous versions of a certain document .txt, used with notepad to see the times I have edited it. I don't want to see the last modification of that document, but a time in the past. I mean like a list of dates. Something like a changelog or something? Like it shows a list kind of like "Modified on 1/2/2020" and then the next is "2/5/2020" or something like that. I tried searching for dates by doing "modified:" but it only shows the last date it was modified. Is there a way to see other previous dates?

:)

 

Recent File List

Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file1

Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file2
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file3
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file4
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file5
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file6
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file7
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file8
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file9
...

you get the idea. ( too lazy to put it in a for loop and test it.

or just open regedit and remove all the fileX from that key.

 

Wrong file modification dates/times

Thanks Brian for your interest in that issue with file dates. I wonder why this is not heavily discussed in the community.

At least we agree for the backup case. If a sync program is similar to a backup program or not is a philosophic question which I would like to avoid. But I think at the end a synchronization should lead to a "similar" state in both synchronized data sets.
And for me the modification date of a file is an essential information that is part of a files identity. Hence a synchronization should not change it. This is philosophy again. You certainly know these OO discussions about "identity" of objects.

But leave aside all philosophy. At the end ActiveSync produces the current date as file (modify-) date for all (!) files on the mobiles My Documents, even those that have not been changed since months or years. And this is certainly not a desirable behaviour.

One reason for that is ActiveSyncs Copy behaviour. An other seems to be its handling of archive bits. I will write on this in a later article.

I do not agree to that. And Microsoft doesn't either as I will show.

I agree to that. But this is another question and not relevant for file synchronization. I did not carefully examine how ActiveSync handles directory dates. The file case causes work enough for me.

How do Windows Mobile and Windows PC handle file dates during copy operations? I made experiments for creation date and modification date. I left aside last-access dates. They seem not being really supported on Windows Mobile and they are not really interesting
for the user. The creation date is normally not very important as well. What the user needs all day is the modification date. Often this is just named "file date" as a synonym.

----------------------

The following is done completely on a standalone mobile device with WM6.1 not attached to the PC. No ActiveSync interaction.

Say you have a file in Directory A.

Created at 07:32, last edited at 08:25.

==> in DirA:

Create Time: 07:32

Modify Time: 08:25

1) At 08:30 copy it for the first time to Directory B. It did not exist in DirB.

==> in DirB:

Create Time: 07:32

Modify Time: 08:25

+++ Both times are unchanged by copy which is reasonable.

+++ But I would agree if both times were 08:30

2) At 08:44 edit the file in DirB

==> in DirB:

Create Time: 07:32

Modify Time: 08:44

+++ The file gets the new modified time

3) At 08:47 copy it back to DirA. Confirm to overwrite the file.

==> in DirA:

Create Time: 07:32

Modify Time: 08:44

+++ The create time is not changed from its former value in DirA. As a result of Step 1) this is equal to the create time in DirB.

+++ The modify time is unchanged (!) which is reasonable.

... and so on

If you do the same on a PC with Windows XP you will see:

Windows on the PC shows exactly the same behaviour concerning the modification date.

But - strange enough - it is different concerning the creation date during first copy.

After Step 1) when you first copy a file the target file will have:

==> in DirB:

Create Time: 08:30

Modify Time: 08:25

+++ The modify time is unchanged by copy which is reasonable.

+++ The create time is changed to time of copy.

??? This is a bit strange, because the file was now modified before (!) being created.

+++ But why not?

Steps 2) and 3) behave equal as on the mobile.

The file in DirA keeps its original create date and inherits the modify date from the copy source in DirB.

----------------------

To summarize:

+++ COPY operations do not change modification dates.

At least on Windows operating systems. Which is a reasonable behaviour.

??? Initial COPY operations (target does not exist) do change the creation date on Windows, but not on Windows Mobile. Which is a strange idea of the Microsoft programmers/designers.

+++ Later COPY operations (target does already exist) do not change the creation or modification dates.

At least on Windows operating systems. Which is a reasonable behaviour.

--- ActiveSync however always changes the modification date to the current date during each copy caused by a synchronization.

Which I consider an ActiveSync bug or design defect respectively.



Werner Geiger, IT-Architect

 

Recent File List

that's all off already dude lol, I'm really surprised there is no fix for the recent files list/MRU in the file menu of programs haha

I appreciate the help, MS really needs to implement a Group Policy or a string that can do that for all programs installed