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What does Change File Dates do?
Change File Dates sets when your files were created or modified, on your own computer. Give a set of photos their date taken back after copying them, move a folder to a date you pick, or shift everything by an hour. It works on any kind of file.
Before anything changes, every file in the queue shows its old date and its new date. The dates change on the originals, not on copies, and you can undo the last run.
Step 1: Add your files
Click Tools in the sidebar, open the Any file tab and click Change File Dates in the Organize section. You can also type "dates" in the search box at the top.
Click Folder (or Choose folder while the queue is empty) to add the files inside a folder. Hidden files are left out. Use Files to pick single files, or drop files or a folder on the queue.
When a folder is added, a bar above the queue shows its name. Subfolders adds the files in the folders inside it, and Filter keeps only the files that match a Type, Name, Size or Modified date.
Step 2: Choose which dates change
Under Which dates, tick Date modified, Date created or both. Date modified starts ticked.
Step 3: Choose the new date
Under Set to, pick one:
- Date taken (the default) gives each file its own date taken, the one a camera or phone wrote inside the file. On video and audio, this is the recording date. A file without one keeps its dates.
- Pick a date gives every file the same date and time. Type or choose them in the field.
- Shift by moves each file's dates Later or Earlier by an amount in minutes, hours or days. Each file keeps its distance from the others.
Step 4: Check the new dates
Each file in the queue shows its old date, an arrow and its new date, updated as you change the settings. Files that would not change are left as they are. A small note explains anything unusual:
- No date taken, dates kept: the file has no date taken, so it stays as it is.
- Recording date: the date came from a video or audio recording.
Step 5: Set the dates
The panel reminds you that dates change on the originals, with Undo. Click the button, which counts your files: Set dates on 6 files, or Set dates on 5 files, 1 kept as is when some won't change.
When it finishes, each file is marked Changed and the panel says how many files changed. To work on another set, click Change other files.
If one file fails, the others still finish.
How do I undo a change?
After a run, Undo last change appears above the button. Click it and every file gets its old dates back.
- Only the most recent run can be undone. Running the tool again replaces it.
- The undo belongs to the workspace you ran it in.
- Undo before you move or delete those files. If a file can't get its dates back, the panel says how many, for example 1 file couldn't get its dates back. It may have been moved or deleted.
Every setting
- Which dates
The dates that change. Tick at least one.
- RangeDate modified, Date created
- DefaultDate modified
- Set to
Where the new date comes from.
- RangeDate taken, Pick a date, Shift by
- DefaultDate taken
- Pick a date
The same date and time for every file.
- RangeA date and time
- Shift by
Moves each file’s own dates by the same amount.
- RangeLater or Earlier, an amount, minutes, hours or days
- DefaultLater, 1, hours
Recipes for common jobs
- Sort photos by when they were taken: leave Set to on Date taken and tick both dates.
- Move everything an hour: choose Shift by, Later or Earlier, 1, hours.
- Give a delivery one date: choose Pick a date and set the date and time you want.
- Name files by their date too: run this tool first, then use Batch Rename with a Date in the name.
Why did the dates not change?
- The button reads Set dates and is grayed out. No date is ticked under Which dates, or the Pick a date field is empty.
- A file says No date taken, dates kept. Nothing inside it records when it was taken. Use Pick a date for those files.
- A file failed with "This file is read-only." Remove the read-only setting from the file, then run it again.
- A file failed with "This file is no longer there." It was moved or deleted after you added it. Add it again from its new place.
For other errors, see A file failed: what to check.
Limits
- It works on the original files. It can't make copies with new dates.
- It changes the modified and created dates only, not the file's contents or the date taken inside it.
- Camera RAW files have no date taken here, so they keep their dates under Date taken.
- Only the latest run can be undone.
- It can't be a step in a chain.
- Everything runs on your computer. Nothing is uploaded.
Common questions
Does Change File Dates change my original files?
Yes, that is its job. It changes the dates on the files themselves and makes no copies. What is inside each file stays the same, and Undo last change puts the old dates back.
Can I undo a change?
Yes. Click Undo last change and every file gets its old dates back. Only the most recent run can be undone.
Does it change the date taken inside a photo?
No. It changes the modified and created dates your computer keeps for a file. The date taken written inside a photo stays as it is.
Can I change every file in a folder and its subfolders?
Yes. Add the folder, then turn on Subfolders in the bar above the queue. Filter narrows the list to the files you want.
Still stuck?
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