Rules for “Date Modified” of folders in Windows Explorer

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Disclaimer: I tested all of these myself on Windows 10. I could not find an authoritative source documenting all of these behaviours. It is entirely possible that I made a mistake somewhere.

The folder’s last modified time is updated for these actions:

  • new file or folder directly in target folder
  • renamed file or folder directly in target folder
  • deleted file or folder directly in target folder
  • hardlink create/delete/rename – same as files
  • file/folder symlink create/delete/rename
  • directory junction create/delete/rename

It is not updated for these actions:

  • modified contents of file directly in target folder
  • edit target of symlink or junction contained in target folder
  • file’s or sub-folder’s created/modified date changing
  • edit basic attributes (hidden/archive/system) of a direct child
  • NTFS compression/encryption change of a direct child
  • anything at all happening in a sub-folder – literally anything
  • changing attributes of the folder itself
  • changing owner/ACL of the folder itself
  • owner or ACL of a direct child changing
  • if the folder is a directory junction, changing the target
  • adding/deleting alt data streams to a direct child file

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