Windows 10: What actions cause the "Date Modified" time stamp to update for Files and Folders?

Hi, essentially I'd like to find out what actions would cause the "Date Modified" time stamp to update.


I've come across the following tasks cause the "Date Modified" to update.


Moving a Folder

Undoing the moved folder

Opening a file within a folder updates the folders timestamp but not the files

renaming a file



I wanted to see if anyone has actually has a list of actions that can cause this to happen, these actions are all being completely on my local workstation that running Windows 10 Enterprise 1909.


-Thank you!

:)

 

Date Modified Issue

File dates can be set in two ways:

• By the editor you use. The editor may or may not modify the date stamp. Normally it does but there are exceptions.
• By a script that allows you to specify the date & time.

 

Illogical date modified updating

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

I understand that the modified date is just as important as the created date within the metadata of a given file. We will look into this for you.
However, in order to get clarity and to assist you accordingly, please reply with the answers to the questions below.

1. What is the build of Windows 10 running on your system?
   
2. Was there any major change or an update on your system prior to which you weren’t facing this issue?
   
3. Is the issue only with the pictures taken from the camera or the other pictures and files within the system as well?
   

Meanwhile, I would suggest you to follow the steps below and check if it is helpful to you.

Method 1: Enable the Date Modified Column in the File Explorer.

To enable the Date modified column within the particular folder, please follow the steps below.

1. Open the Folder in which you wish to see the Date modified column.
   
2. Right-click on the
   Header for Name, date, type etc. This will give you a list of columns that can be displayed.
   
3. Select the option Date modified, clearing the tick removes that column.
   
4. Modify a file and check if it is being reflected in the Date modified column.
   

If the issue still persists, where you aren’t able to see the value in the Date modified column even after making the changes to the particular file, please follow ‘Method 2’.

Method 2: Create a new user account.

This issue could be due to profile corruption. Hence to eliminate possibilities, I would suggest you to ‘Create
a local user or administrator account’ and check if the issue persists.

Note:
You will not see all your files under your default file location. So your data will be saved under C:\users\user_name.

We await your response.

Aaron Summith

Microsoft Community - Moderator

 

when moving files from one folder to another the Date Modified changes - but the document was not changed!

Hi,

It is normal that every time you move a file to a certain folder or file location, the date modified will change by default. For more information about time stamps for files and folders, you can refer to this article:

Description of NTFS date and time stamps for files and folders.

Regards.