Modified - without even viewing

Question

When I went to look at my file directory on one drive it showed there were quite a few files/folders that had been 'modified' 2 days ago, when in fact I had never even had them open. There's quite a lot of these, showing 'modified - 2 days ago' but within the same folder its only particular files. In fact, at first glance, it looks like its a .jpg's. Whats going on here? NB I dont have One Drive connected to my PC anymore, but I do have the App on my android phone. Many thanks

Answer 1

Hi,

I'm Tim, an Independent Consultant here and a Microsoft user like you. I don't work for Microsoft and do not have access to any of your data on their system.

If you are seeing files and folders in your OneDrive that show a "modified" timestamp of two days ago, even though you haven't opened or edited them, it's possible that there could be several reasons for this:-

1. Syncing: If you have OneDrive installed on your Android phone and it is set to sync with your OneDrive account, it's possible that files are being modified automatically as part of the syncing process. For example, if the files are being accessed or updated by other apps on your phone, it could trigger the modification timestamp in OneDrive.
2. Third-party apps: Some third-party apps or services that have access to your OneDrive might be modifying the files for various reasons. It could be related to metadata updates, thumbnail generation, or other background processes.
3. File system errors: Occasionally, file system errors can cause modification timestamps to be updated incorrectly, giving the impression that files have been modified when they haven't.

To investigate further, you can take the following steps:

1. Check your Android phone's settings and the OneDrive app settings to see if any automatic syncing or background processes are enabled.
2. Review any third-party apps that have access to your OneDrive and check if they could be modifying the files.
3. If possible, access your OneDrive account from a different device or computer to see if the same modification timestamps are shown there. This can help determine if the issue is specific to your Android phone or more widespread.

Remember to always keep backups of important files to ensure their safety and to have an additional copy in case of any unexpected issues.

I hope this information helps. If you have any questions, please let me know and I'll be glad to assist you further or If you find it helpful, you can mark this comment as the answer.

Kind regards

Tim