How to Change the File Date in Windows

Changing the date of a file.

Anytime you create, modify, access and / or print a file on your computer Windows marks the action with a date and timestamp. The date and timestamp are intended to help make finding files on your system easier. Windows allows you to search for files by file name, author, file size, keyword in the document or title and date. Of the two following methods of changing the date of a file located on a Windows operating system, changing the date through the operating system calendar offers more comprehensive results.

Things You'll Need

• Access to an "administrator" account on your computer

Instructions

Changing the Date through the Operating System Calendar

1. Logon to your computer with an administrator account.

2. Reset the operating system date. Go to the "Start Menu." Select "Control Panel." Click on "Date and Time." Set the system date to the date you would like to have stamped on your file. Click "OK." Close the Control Panel window.

3. Open the file that has the date you would like to change. Go to the "File" menu in whatever software application launched when you opened your file; select "Save As." You can keep the same file name, but change the directory location of your file. For instance, if your file is currently saved in the "My Documents" folder, you could save it to your Windows Desktop or another folder instead. The "Created," "Modified" and "Accessed" date and time stamp of the version of your file saved in this new directory will be marked with whatever date and time your operating system clock and calendar were set to when the file is saved.

4. Reset the operating system date to reflect the current date and time.

5. (Optional) Delete the version of your file stored in the original directory. Or go to the version of your file stored in the new directory location. Right-click on the file. Select "Cut." Go to the directory location of the old version of the file. Right-click on the old version the file, and select "Paste." When prompted to replace the old version of the file with the new version you just created, select "Yes."

Changing the Date through the Details Pane

1. Logon to your computer with an administrator account.

2. Go to the folder that contains the file that has the date you would like to change.

3. Right-click on the file. Select "Properties" from the popup menu. Go to the "Details" tab. In the Date field, change the date value.

4. Click "OK."

References

• Microsoft Support: Change the properties for a file
• Microsoft Support: The "Created" date and time of a document