Command line and power tools

Files from a date range

Updated 2026-07-31 · 4 min read

Between two dates is the query behind 'what did I do on that project last spring'.

find, with a range

find ~ -type f -newermt "2026-03-01" ! -newermt "2026-04-01" 2>/dev/null

-newermt A ! -newermt B means modified on or after A and before B. Natural dates work too:

find ~ -newermt "last monday" ! -newermt "yesterday"

Restricting to your own work

find ~/Documents ~/Desktop -type f \
  -newermt "2026-03-01" ! -newermt "2026-04-01" \
  -not -path "*/Library/*" 2>/dev/null

mdfind, with Spotlight dates

mdfind 'kMDItemContentModificationDate >= $time.iso(2026-03-01) && \
        kMDItemContentModificationDate < $time.iso(2026-04-01)'

Or relative:

mdfind 'kMDItemContentModificationDate >= $time.today(-30)'

Which date

Three exist — modification, creation, last-opened. Modification answers "worked on"; creation answers "arrived" (but resets on copy); last-opened answers "looked at" (but is unreliable, updated by backups and previews). For "what did I do", modification is right.

Swap the attribute for the others:

find ~ -type f -newerBt "2026-03-01" ! -newerBt "2026-04-01"   # B = birth/creation

Combining with content

The strongest reconstruction pairs a date range with a term:

mdfind -onlyin ~/Documents 'kMDItemTextContent == "*acme*" && \
  kMDItemContentModificationDate >= $time.iso(2026-03-01)'

Which is "everything mentioning Acme that I touched in March" — the actual shape of most "pull up that period's work" requests.

Common questions

How do I find files changed between two dates on a Mac?

find ~ -newermt DATE1 ! -newermt DATE2 — on/after the first, before the second. mdfind does it with kMDItemContentModificationDate comparisons.

Which file date should I search on?

Modification date for 'what I worked on'. Creation resets on copy; last-opened is updated by backups and previews.