How To Check When A File/Folder Was Created In Windows 10/11 Or Mac

On your Windows 10/11 PC or Mac, you might want to check when a particular file or folder was created. This guide shows you the easy ways to check when a file or folder was created.

NOTE: File Explorer is used to check the file/folder creation date in Windows operating system. The file created date and time is the date and time when a specific file/folder was created in its current location/folder. That is, for example, if a file was created on your old PC and then moved to your new PC, the File Explorer shows the date and time the file was moved to the current PC as the file created date.

Check when a file was created in Windows 10/11

Step 1: Open File Explorer and navigate to the folder containing the file/folder whose creation date you want to know.

Step 2: Perform a right-click on the file and then click the Properties option. If you are on Windows 11, right-click on the file, click More options and then click the Properties option to open the Properties dialog.

Step 3: Under the General tab of the Properties dialog, the Created section displays the date of file/folder creation. Along with the file created date and you can also find details about the last modified and accessed date here.

As you can see, in addition to the date, Windows also displays the time.

Method 2 of 2

Another way to check the file creation date in Windows 10/11

Step 1: Go to the folder containing the file.

Step 2: We need to change the File Explorer view. Click on the View menu and then select the Details view.

Step 3: Next, perform a right-click on the Name column, and then select Date created to add the Date created column to the File Explorer.

The Date created column now shows the file creation date for all files/folders next to them. If you want the file creation date to appear next to the file name (adjacent to the Name column), please move the Date created column by dragging and dropping it next to the Name column.

Check when a file was created on Mac

Just like Windows operating system, macOS also offers ways to view when files were created on your computer. Here is how to check.

Step 1: Right-click on the file whose date of creation you want to know and then click the Get info option.

Step 2: The resulting dialog, under the General section, shows when the file was created in the Created field.

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