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Sort by date added to folder in Windows file explorer

Anonymous
2024-04-07T20:21:22+00:00

I want to sort files by date added to folder to easily find a file that I have recently downloaded.

NO! Date modified and date created does not solve this.

The date created and modified could be 1 jan 2000, but I added it to my folder 7 april 2024 (by download from Edge browser). The problem is that this file gets lost way down amongst my files. I am wasting my precious time finding it again. It's shocking to me that after 30 years of windows, Microsoft hasn't solved this basic, basic, simple thing. Which most people would benefit from every day.

Still in 2024 I am waisting my work time looking for files because of this missing sorting feature.

Any opinions on this or solutions?

PS! all my files i file explorer are in a onedrive folder. There is no recent files choice.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-08-15T15:26:00+00:00

    I'm having this same problem and it's affecting my work.

    In my department, different people upload pdf files to a folder. I regularly check this folder and do "my thing" with them (which does not *usually* include opening the files), but I want to process them in the order received (ie, date they were added/saved/moved into this folder). So far I've been using the Date Modified column, but this is not truly accurate. It worked good enough though, so I just ran with it.

    Today, however, my timeliness was questioned so I went to check some of the data in the folder, and realized that several of the files that were added after I cleared the folder were dated BEFORE my completion timestamp, by over a week. So now I'm looking for a way to do this ACCURATELY.

    I guess this capability just doesn't exist. Very unfortunate. Please add this for us!!!! I've seen so many requests over the years looking through the Google search results for this info, and NO ONE has a good answer. I think the earliest request I found was from back in 2013.

    5 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Les Ferch 10,326 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2024-08-15T16:07:40+00:00

    If those files are being uploaded to that folder then the Date created property should reflect the date and time the file was added to the folder. Is that not the case?

    Please note that if the file has been moved to that folder from another folder, on the same volume, the Date created will not reflect that change. Date created shows you when a file is first created on a given volume (aka drive).

    If you have the problem of files being moved into that folder from another folder on the same volume (and therefore not getting a new Date created) you'll need the shared folder set up a little differently (e.g. separate share with its own drive letter).

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  3. Les Ferch 10,326 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2024-04-07T23:21:40+00:00

    Hi. Thanks for responding. I downloaded the pdf files from several emails in the web browser Edge.

    From what you are saying, files downloaded in Edge browser will be hard to find after download if they were not edited or created recently.

    I would expect the PDF files to have a Date created that matches the date you downloaded them using Edge, but that's not what you're seeing?

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-04-07T21:21:31+00:00

    Hi. Thanks for responding. I downloaded the pdf files from several emails in the web browser Edge.

    From what you are saying, files downloaded in Edge browser will be hard to find after download if they were not edited or created recently.

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  5. Les Ferch 10,326 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2024-04-07T21:09:55+00:00

    When you say "I added it to my folder 7 april 2024", what do you mean by "added"? Where did the file come from?

    Please note that there is no file system property that is updated when a file is moved from one folder to another on the same volume. The file system only tracks when the file was first created on the volume and when the file was last updated (when the contents were last changed).

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