Finding specific things

Finding files by date

Updated 2026-07-31 · 5 min read

'I was working on it last Tuesday' is usually a better clue than the filename. macOS records three different dates per file, and knowing which is which saves a lot of time.

The three dates

Date	Means
Date Created	When this copy came into existence — copying a file resets it
Date Modified	When the contents last changed
Date Last Opened	When it was last read by anything

Copying or downloading a file gives it a new creation date but usually preserves the modification date. This is why a file you made in 2019 shows as created last week.

In Finder

⌘F, then +, then pick the date attribute you want. The operators include within last, before, after and exactly.

Add the columns to list view so you can see them: right-click any column header and tick Date Created, Date Modified and Date Last Opened.

In the Terminal

Modified in the last 7 days:

find ~ -type f -mtime -7

Modified more than a year ago:

find ~ -type f -mtime +365

Changed in the last 30 minutes — useful for "where did that app just write?":

find ~ -type f -mmin -30

With mdfind, dates use Spotlight's own syntax:

mdfind 'kMDItemContentModificationDate >= $time.today(-7)'

A caution about 'today'

find -mtime -1 means "within the last 24 hours", not "since midnight". For calendar days, Finder's date pickers are easier to reason about than find.

Combining with a name

The strongest searches combine a rough name with a rough date. In Everywhere that is one line — invoice dm:<7d — because the index carries modification times alongside names and both filters apply in the same pass.

Common questions

Why did the creation date change when I copied a file?

A copy is a new file. macOS sets its creation date to now while preserving the modification date from the original.

Can I search by date range in Finder?

Yes — add two date criteria, one 'after' and one 'before', and Finder combines them.