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File date changing

I have seen a number of posts about DropBox changing file dates to "date modified" which appears to be the date the file was uploaded to DropBox. This is weird because if you are just uploading and downloading files from one computer to another you want the original date to be retained. The date of the uploading is mostly irrelevant. For searching based on date the file was created/last edited is what I need to maintain my records by date created/edited. This happens when I use the app of the web and add files to a DropBox folder the date it was added is saved as the modified date. It gets stranger because when I download to another computer I can restore the original file date if SmartSync is on and set to local but this worked for Excel files but not for PDFs! BTW I am using Windows 10 on both computers. I could not work out behaviour from previous posts. thanks for any help

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Jay

Hi @Steve53, thanks for messaging today!

Are you referring to the date modified as it appears on the Dropbox site, or how it appeared in Explorer/Finder?

In general, if a file is uploaded directly to the Dropbox site, the modification and creation date are for that moment. Likewise, downloading a file from the website onto your computer has both the creation and modification date to be for the moment.

If an old file is moved into a syncing Dropbox folder, and is then edited later, then the creation date is of the old file, and the modification date is whenever it is edited. These two dates are synced to any machine where the app is installed.

If you need any more details, feel free to message back!

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Jay

Hi @Steve53, thanks for messaging today!

Are you referring to the date modified as it appears on the Dropbox site, or how it appeared in Explorer/Finder?

If you need any more details, feel free to message back!

Steve53

Hi Jay

I am referring to the modified date on DropBox and that this date is retained in the properties of the file thereafter!

"In general, if a file is uploaded directly to the Dropbox site, the modification and creation date are for that moment. Likewise, downloading a file from the website onto your computer has both the creation and modification date to be for the moment."

This is crazy behaviour. If I used a flash drive to move files between computers the date properties would not be changed.

Where does DropBox give itself the right to change the properties of my files without my permission!

I wil be looking for an alternative to DropBox ASAP!

Jay

Using a flash drive is the same as transferring from one hard drive to another, where the original data exists as-is.

The way the modification date changes on Dropbox is more similar to downloading files sent to you via an attachment in an email. Even though the file could be much older, the file creation and modification date would be for the same moment of download.

C-A

Hi Jay, this happens to me almost twice a year and is very disappointing. It seems occurs when dropbox makes by itself some sync process, but is like starting all from zero cause modified date in finder are like creation date

Hannah

Hey @C-A, thanks for reaching out to us here.

You mentioned that this happens to you almost twice a year; so this is not consistent behavior?

Does it otherwise work as normal?

Any additional info on the behavior you're seeing would be really helpful.

Fam BJ

Dropbox even changes folder dates on local folders that I am copying to/from to my Dropbox folder.

This messes up all history in my original folder structure, and it cannot be recreated.

I really don't see why Dropbox allows itself to fiddle with my local archive!

This is a dealbreaker for me.

Lucaben

I agree it's crazy that dropbox does this. Five years later, and this still happens… Files uploaded from my android phone to the dropbox app on android maintain the original creation date, but as soon as I get access to the same files on the web version or desktop app on my mac, the creation date has changed to the upload date. There is no rationale for this, Dropbox should not change file metadata without my consent! Luckily the Exif metadata are still intact and one can use apps such as A better finder to retrieve that information and pass it on to Finder, but it shouldn't be that difficult… I also noticed that location metadata may be lost, particularly on videos, so once a video is imported into the Mac file system, the location metadata are not recognised any more.

AgentOrange

@Steve53 @C-A @Fam BJ
I have a suggestion post for people to vote on this very issue. It’s difficult to get everyone to all find it because there are so many posts about the same thing across this forum. But they require a certain number of people to vote on a single suggestion post so I’m trying to unite the people posting about this problem as best as I possibly can.

Here’s the link: https://www.dropboxforum.com/idea/101002013/preserve-file-creation-datesand-other-metadata-in-mobile-app-versions/691539