Refuses to preserve correct creation date

[AgentOrange]

I have tried to upload files without losing the original creation date on this main account(which I have a 2TB subscription on), and on a new non-subscription account that I created on a device I’ve never used this account on (to see if it was only this account). Neither will preserve the original creation dates.

I have my main account on my iPhone and a Kindle Fire tablet. The other account is on a cheap android phone I use mostly for a couple of games. I recently downloaded the Dropbox app for iPhone. I’ve had the app on my Kindle Fire for years. On my iPhone I used to just use in-app Dropbox integrations to upload from my phone.

The last time I used it on my Kindle Fire (which I mainly only use in ‘Show Mode’ on its dock now) it WAS preserving the original creation dates of the files I uploaded. I know because I put those that had all traces of a creation date scrubbed in a folder named in reference to there being no date. I also put those that somehow got dated back in the 1960s & 1970s in a folder named to reflect that, & I put those with the actual creation dates still on them in the parent folders(that also contained the above referenced folders as well as folders named to reflect some video files that I purposely managed to change the date for on my Kindle before I uploaded them to Dropbox).

There are also some files that I uploaded from my iPhone 2-3 years ago through various in-app Dropbox integrations that also managed to preserve the correct file creation dates. I know because they’re mainly files I found on some of my old email accounts and saved to one of the apps I eventually used to back them up to my Dropbox account with.

My major problem is that I can’t remove the VAST majority(probably 95-99%) of the pics from my iPhone after backing up, syncing, or even syncing a few at a time because that vast majority happen to be screenshots that are heavily dependent upon having their original creation dates intact AND being backed up in the order in which they were taken.

I have to keep many organized by a date that’s visibly correct in case I need them to prove the date and time of certain purchases from services that require screenshots to prove everything I may ever have to have them as proof of. And yes there are services that require this very specifically so I have tons of screenshots for just about everything I could eventually need to have for proof of anything I ever did/earned/etc.

I also have about a years worth of backlogged screenshots for 3 teams I run on a game where I have to screenshot massive amounts of teammate data & tournament data every weekend. There’s actually 3-4 years backlogged for 2 of those teams. If I lose a single creation date or the pics upload out of order, both of which keep happening, it will make it impossible to piece the broken pieces of my Gallery’s timeline back together.

The out of order part is not a tiny glitch either but an EXTREME problem as it is uploading many pics/videos way ahead of others (instead of going in order from newest to oldest OR vice versa… either direction would keep the correct order but there’s not even an option for how the user would prefer to upload their files within an app… the main Gallery app in this case). And I’m talking about a gallery with more than 4 years worth of important media I need to back up, while maintaining easy access via the cloud, that keeps getting uploaded like scrambled eggs. Even when I try to upload just 3-10 pics at a time, instead of syncing the entire thing conveniently, they keep getting uploaded out of order. Even when I tried backing up one of my gallery folders a few at a time and it oddly was showing the “presumed” correct creation dates, it still kept naming at LEAST one of each small batch I was uploading using the current date and time. And even the ones that appeared to be named after their correct creation dates were not all exactly in order. So that means that when sorted by date (or file name), if they were not in the order they were in the original gallery, then they can’t have the actual correct file creation dates as a filename if they can’t be sorted in order (that’s not even counting every few pics that it keeps randomly naming using the current date).

[Megan]

Hi @AgentOrange, I just sent you an email.

I'll be happy to continue troubleshooting there. 

[Starvingarchi]

I also have the same problem with the original 'creation date' being changed to the date the file was uploaded to dropbox. I've read other forums where people complain about the dates changing when downloading the file(s) from DB  onto their device, but I also experience this when uploading to DB from my phone.

I tried uploading a file from a desktop computer and the date the doesn't change, but always changes when uploading from a mobile device.

[Ariel S.1]

There have been no updates--how does one upload files to from a device to a specific folder on Dropbox and maintain the original creation date? Certainly I can do this if I use an external hard drive for example. As we speak, I am cleaning up my Mac and realizing that I can't sort by date because they are all dated now.

Thanks

[Mark]

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@Ariel S.1 wrote:

There have been no updates--how does one upload files to from a device to a specific folder on Dropbox and maintain the original creation date? Certainly I can do this if I use an external hard drive for example. As we speak, I am cleaning up my Mac and realizing that I can't sort by date because they are all dated now.

Thanks

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Have you had a look at https://help.dropbox.com/organize/modified-date ?

[Ariel S.1]

Thank you and to try and help the next person (because this seems important enough and I spent so much time trying find an existing thread)...the end answer is that one MUST use the Dropbox Computer based app to upload files as opposed to what I had been doing which was when "cleaning' laptop---I would open a browser window and drag the files over in chunks and then delete them from laptop as I went.

Thanks!

[AgentOrange]

ORIGINAL POSTER HERE BTW,
I just read that article and it clearly is referring to MODIFICATION DATES. A file should be able to have its CREATION DATE that doesn’t get “modified” preserved.

I don’t have a computer. Financial situation is tough and I’m lucky to have a phone. Many people also have only a phone… not a personal computer as well.

The app doesn’t even HAVE an option to view a file’s CREATION DATE. And only photos are given the option to view the “modified date”… which btw, is NOT an actual working substitute for the “Creation Date”. I would MUCH rather have the option to view/sort by/etc my files’ CREATION DATE than their modified date.

The modified date changes if I simply reorganize my files into folders that are more appropriate because they are usually uploaded into various temporary folders that I eventually will have to go sort them out of to put them into folders that are more appropriate and easier to browse through. This of course causes even MORE headaches because the file dates(& i very specifically mean CREATION DATES) get more and more screwed up.

This should be extremely easy to fix. Add an option to view/sort by/etc the actual CREATION date of the files. Modification dates are completely useless for me. I don’t mind them being there, but I do mind them being there as a “substitute” for the original creation date… which is the most important piece of metadata for almost everyone who uses cloud backup storage.

Especially when having a 2TB plan that means a TON of my important files will be in there needing a way to view and sort by their original creation dates.

Btw, I’m using safari browser instead of the built in browser on the app and I still don’t see an option to attach pics. But a pic isn’t actually even necessary. Anyone can open the app and verify that there’s no option for viewing a file’s creation date. There’s no date option AT ALL for documents, audio, etc… only for pictures… & that’s just a modified date.

[AgentOrange]

@Starvingarchi

I added this as a new feature idea suggestion because honestly it should already be a feature.

Hopefully enough people will see it to vote for it because it’s hard for everyone to see every feature request that they may also need to have, and this just seems like a no-brainer as far as features/functionality goes.

See the request at the link below:
https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-ideas/Preserve-file-Creation-Dates-and-other-metadata-in-mob...

[floyd10]

@AgentOrange 

After coming across this thread and previous regarding creation dates being over written by  uploaded date.

im still looking for the answer to this ?

I did vote for your suggestion btw.

ive tried dropping files in the finder window on laptop DB app but same thing happens.

@Megan  Is there a resolution for this basic feature everyone is asking for !?

[Jay]

Hi @floyd10, currently we have no updates on this matter, as the feature request is still gathering support for more votes.

Once there is an update, it will appear on that idea post.