Finding specific things

Today's new files

Updated 2026-07-31 · 3 min read

Created today and modified today are different questions with different answers.

Creation date in find

macOS find supports birth (creation) time with the B variants:

find ~ -type f -newerBt "$(date +%Y-%m-%d)" 2>/dev/null

Everything created since midnight. For the last 24 hours instead:

find ~ -type f -newerBt "24 hours ago" -not -path "*/Library/*" 2>/dev/null

In Finder

⌘F → + → Created date → today. Save as a Smart Folder for a permanent "new today" view.

Creation vs modification

• Created — when this copy came into being. Downloading, copying or exporting sets it

to now

• Modified — when the contents last changed. Preserved across a copy

So a file you downloaded today (created today) may have been written years ago (old modification date). "New arrivals" wants creation; "what I worked on" wants modification.

The copy caveat

Because copying resets creation date, "created today" catches everything you downloaded, exported, or copied today — not only things authored today. Usually that is what you want ("what appeared on my Mac today"), but it is worth knowing when the results include old files that merely arrived.

mdfind version

mdfind 'kMDItemFSCreationDate >= $time.today()'

Combining

New today, of a type, in your work folders:

find ~/Documents ~/Downloads -type f -newerBt "$(date +%Y-%m-%d)" \
  -iname "*.pdf" 2>/dev/null

Common questions

How do I find files created today rather than modified today?

find ~ -newerBt "$(date +%Y-%m-%d)" uses birth/creation time. Finder's Created date criterion does the same.

Why does a downloaded file show today as its creation date?

Creation date is set when the copy is made. The download is a new file today, even if its contents are old.