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'Last Modified' column not showing date & time

When using Dropbox on a desktop, the "Last Modified" column now displays messages such as "10 minutes ago," "22 hours ago," and "last month." I found having it show the actual dates and times to be more useful. Is there a way to change the format of the column back to the way it was?

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PhilipF

@Neal , the date and times are back! They returned sometime overnight. I've checked the site on my Chromebook, Mac Mini, and a Windows desktop which were having the problem as of yesterday, and today all are showing the date and time under the "Last modified" column. It's a beautiful thing. I hope it sticks.

I did receive an email this morning from @Megan offering further investigation. I won't reply because there's now nothing to investigate.

Thank you, Neal and @Walter.

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Walter

Hey @PhilipF - thanks for letting us know about this.

Just to make sure we're on the same page, can you send us a screenshot of how it looks like on your end so that we can have a visual too?

Also, what is your computer's exact OS version and the version/status of the Dropbox desktop app as shown in your menu bar/system tray?

Any additional information is more than welcome!

PhilipF

Thank you for your help, @Walter.

I don't use the Dropbox app on my PCs. I just go to dropbox.com using the Chrome browser to see my files. I should have made that more clear instead of just saying "when I use Dropbox." Sorry about that!

I mainly use an HP Chromebook for everyday browsing, but I also access Dropbox on a Mac Mini for work:

HP Chromebook 14a-na00031wm
ChromeOS Version 142.0.7444.181 (Official Build) (64-bit)

2021 Mac Mini M1
macOS Sequoia 15.5
Chrome Version 142.0.7444.176 (Official Build) (arm64)

Dropbox Account: Dropbox Plus - 2TB

The screenshot is how dropbox.com appears in the Chrome browser on my Chromebook. The screen is identical on the Mac, both on Chrome and Safari (v18.5). Until very recently, the "Last modified" column showed the date and time for each file, but now the column just describes how far back the files were modified. I can use "File info" to see each individual file's date & time, but seeing in one glance the times of day all the files were modified was useful to me. And seeing "Last week" and "Last month" instead of an actual date is just plain annoying!

It's not a huge problem, but a recent change I hope can be easily changed back.

NR1041

Has there been a solution to this? I am dealing with the same issue.

Neal

Hi @PhilipF & @NR1041,

Thanks for letting us know. Just as a potential workaround (and also maybe troubleshooting depending on the results), could you:

pick a file this is happening to and hover your cursor over it
click the 3 dots on the right of the file (see screenshot)

Click "File Info" in the pop up menu.

This should list the date and time that file was last modified. It might help provide that specific info for you in the meantime but if it does not list it, please let me know as that will help our investigation.

Maybe also make sure your browsers are fully up to date? @PhilipF I checked and it seems that both versions of Chrome that you are using on your Chromebook and Mac Mini are not the latest version. That may possibly be causing the issue.

PhilipF

Thank you for your reply @Neal. I updated ChromeOS as suggested, but nothing changed.

Chromebook: ChromeOS Version 142.0.7444.220 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Mac Mini: Version 143.0.7499.41 (Official Build) (arm64)

As I wrote in my second post, I can get an individual file's Last Modified date using File Info as you describe. What I'd prefer is seeing the actual dates and times in the Last Modified column, so I can quickly see when the files were actually modified.

Dropbox changing the column's info to phrases such as "yesterday" and "last week" is anti-productive for me. When I have a folder with many files modified on the same day, I now have to sort them by Last Modified, then check the files individually to find the one I want because they are all listed as simply "yesterday." Only files older than a year have the actual date and time in the Last Modified column; newer files do not. I feel like I'm now wasting time wondering things like "Last modified '5 days ago'... would that be Saturday or Sunday?"

Kathy1379

I too hate this new format and would LOVE to get it back to the actual date.

Neal

Hi @PhilipF,

My apologies for missing that but thank you regardless for confirming both points for me. I'll have one of agents reach out to you and try and investigate this further.

Same for you @NR1041 & @Kathy1379!

PhilipF

I did receive an email this morning from @Megan offering further investigation. I won't reply because there's now nothing to investigate.

Thank you, Neal and @Walter.

Walter

We're glad to hear it's sorted now and thanks for the update as well @PhilipF - most appreciated.

See you around the Community and let us know if anything else comes up in the future!

Neal

I'm delighted to heat that! @NR1041 & @Kathy1379, can you confirm if it's back for you as well?

Kathy1379

Yay! Thank you so much!

Kathy1379

Yes, it's back for me as well.