During the Process of Verifying File Access Time, It Frequently Updates to the Present Date/Time
During the Process of Verifying File Access Time, It Frequently Updates to the Present Date/Time
I observed that right-clicking a file on my W10 PC and selecting Properties updates the Accessed time to match the current system date and time. This happens because the file’s access timestamp is automatically recorded each time it’s opened or modified. It’s useful to verify the last accessed time, but since it constantly changes, it may not always reflect the actual usage. I’m planning to test this on another machine to determine if it’s a PC-specific behavior or a consistent feature. Unless confirmed, I’ll keep checking until I have more clarity.
Because accessing these properties is a read operation. You shouldn't need to open its properties though. Just add the column to Windows explorer. ~edit: Apparently there's only a column for Created and Modified, but not for Accessed, curious I can confirm that opening the dialog for the first time did change the access date, but it doesn't seem to change the second, third, … time I did this. So it probably has something to do with Windows loading some metadata of the file, which then counts as access?
It seems the same issue is happening on your Win11 system. I'm checking if file indexing might be causing the delay in accessing files, even after a period of inactivity.
Someone accessed my wife's PC, which made me wonder about the last time it was used. I noticed Windows often changes the current time or date during testing, which might help. I haven't tried it on her files yet, so there could still be a possibility. Since her PC doesn’t log off after being idle, it stays accessible, making it tough to determine exactly when the action occurred. Also, I can’t see the last accessed property of the file.