File explorer and date created/modified change when copying files/folders.

Anonymous
2024-02-17T14:09:45+00:00

Dear Microsoft Wizards,

I come to you with a tale of woe, a saga of time-displaced files and folders that have lost their way in the temporal vortex of Windows File Explorer. In an age where we can chat with AI, drive electric chariots, and binge-watch shows about dragons and spaceships, I find myself anchored to a mundane reality. In reality, copying files and folders in Windows File Explorer betrays their original timestamps, casting them adrift in the present, forgetting their noble past.

Imagine a world where one could copy a file or folder without the cruel hands of the present altering their date and time stamps. A world where digital artifacts remain untouched by the ravages of time, preserving their history as meticulously as a museum curator with a penchant for organization and accuracy.

"Why not use robocopy or other command prompt utilities?" I hear you ask, your voices echoing through the hallowed halls of Redmond. Ah, but here lies the rub! While these tools are mighty in their own right, they demand a saint's patience and a wizard's expertise. Delving into the command prompt is akin to stepping into an ancient crypt inscribed with arcane commands and cryptic parameters. It is a thrilling adventure for the occasional file or two, perhaps, but Herculean labor when faced with the task of preserving the timestamps of hundreds, nay, thousands of files and folders.

So, I pray that you, the noble scribes and engineers of Microsoft, bestow upon us, the humble users, a magical feature within the Windows File Explorer itself. A feature that allows us to copy our digital treasures while keeping their temporal essence intact – no spells, no incantations, and indeed no command line rituals required.

In this quest for temporal fidelity, I stand ready to champion this cause, armed with nothing but my wit and a profound desire for user-friendly file management. Together, let us forge a new path through the annals of digital file preservation, ensuring that our files and folders may travel through the vast expanse of directories without losing sight of their origins.

Yours in time-traveling solidarity,

Luis Martinez

******@outlook.com

P.S. If this feature comes to pass, future generations will look back on this moment as a turning point in history – the day we let our files journey through time, unaltered and proud, their timestamps shining like beacons of their actual age.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-01-16T02:04:24+00:00

    The original poster demonstrated great self control, an active imagination, and very good writing skills while still managing to express his frustration with hints of sarcasm. He managed to express my exact, long standing, concerns in a most entertaining and non-threatening way. I can only hope to be as calm on a topic that often moves me to anger.

    This ISSUE has occurred in previous versions of Microsoft Windows. It generally does not happen when copying from one MS Windows device to another as long as they are in the same domain. It does happen when copying from outside the current domain, when copying from an alien OS such as Linux to the MS Windows environment or when copying from a portable device such as an SD card.

    If this is supposed to be the normal behavior, why did it work in previous versions such as MS Windows XP and NT all the way back to version 3.1?

    It has reached the point that I have been forced to embed the date and time as part of my file naming convention for several years now in order to attempt to keep my files straight. I was just pondering this very issue a couple of days ago trying to decide if it had reached a point of forcing me to change my OS of choice to regain file integrity and give me back the hours I spend manually using something like RoboCopy or going back and cleaning up the mess left behind when I momentarily forget to take precautions.

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-04-07T01:55:58+00:00

    Hello, Lui Lui the 3rd

    Welcome to the Microsoft community.

    Your eloquently woven tale of temporal displacement within the realms of Windows File Explorer has reached the ears of us mere mortals tending the vast digital libraries at Microsoft.

    We understand your frustration, Thank you for your feedback, and Microsoft will continue to make improvements to serve you better.

    Best Regards,

    Aaron- MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

    It has been over a year and the file dates are still not preserved. I'm very sad.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-07-18T05:59:07+00:00

    If any file copied from one location on server to another, the date modified changes to the date when file has been copied. Whereas it should be the date when that file was actually modified.

    Please resolve this issue ASAP.

    This is becoming a big headache for me and my team and can't track the changes and what is the latest modified or old.

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  4. Les Ferch 10,361 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2024-07-12T17:10:05+00:00

    Please see the reply at the link below from Ramesh in regards to the underlying cause of Date modified changing when copying from some network shares:

    https://answers.microsoft.com/pl-pl/windows/forum/all/a-date-of-a-file-during-copying-files/1a45b29d-0474-4d54-82a5-7482d9a323dc

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-07-25T16:48:32+00:00

    For anyone else having this issue:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/june-11-2024-kb5039212-os-builds-22621-3737-and-22631-3737-d7f574c0-2b13-48ca-a9fc-a63093b1a2c2

    Starting in this update, File Explorer adds the Mark of the Web (MoTW) tag to files and folders that come from untrusted locations. When MapUrlToZone classifies a file as “Internet,” that file also gets this tag. Because of this change, the “LastWriteTime” time stamp is updated. This might affect some scenarios that rely on file copy operations.

    If you actually read the update, this is expected behavior, so I'm inclined to think the trusted sites/intranet zones method is probably going to be the way to go (once we narrow down exactly what combo). For people expecting a "fix" unfortunately I doubt you'll be getting that, I'd try to work around the issue with the update rather than uninstall it and block updates.

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