FreeFileSync Forum

Please, developers, make FFS retain file dates, or have a switch whether to "act like Windows Explorer" or "Retain original folder dates" I maintain several ARCHIVES, and I NEED to keep the folder dates. Otherwise the folder system is useless. Folders are moved around often. I can use other good ...

I'll keep using FFS and new files will have new dates as they should. I'll keep an eye on updated files and correct dates with MultiCommander as needed. And if I move or copy a folder to my main drive, I will copy it to my backup drive using TerraCopy instead of letting FFS do it. It's a pain. but ...

There is another program called Multi Commander that has a "correct date/time" tool, in case you want to fix the date of folders. I'm very glad I just discovered TerraCopy, life just got a little easier in the file management department.

For me it does preserve the original timestamps. I wonder if there is some difference in settings? ravishahani, 27 Dec 2025, 21:36

The dates of individual files is maintained by not folder dates. Are your sure your folder dates also being preserved? I've looked for a setting but haven't seen anything.

https://freefilesync.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6123


Thank you for the link. Ya it's very unfortunate because if it did preserve dates, the program would be so much better. I can still use freefilesync for update and adding new files but for copying between drives, I'm now using TerraCopy which ...

I have been using the donation version for a few years now. I have had the "17,438 files have had the dates changed on both sides" issue for quite a while (files I haven't touched in years), and as a result I decided to get a new backup drive to start fresh. But when I used freefilesync to populate ...

Thanks. Yes this is logical, but the point is, I have not changed or touched those files in any way whatsoever, so how could they possibly have changed?

I just did a sync which (besides the actual new and updated files) reported this -
851 conflicts - "both sides have changed" etc.... what does this mean?
I haven't touched these particular directories or files on either my main or backup hard drive.
I have had this happen before also, but I always ...

Further, the reason this is an issue is that I'm currently archiving and backing up about 20 drives, and it involves a lot of file/folder renaming and some moving around. Each drive has a backup drive. In a daily backup of Documents there isn't much moving around, mostly new files, so Update is ...

Thanks for the help. Yes, FFS does create duplicates. I'm using Update. I don't generally want FFS to delete files on any side. I want to make sure that new files are created on the right, and I have assumed that if I renamed something, that file would be updated. So I've just been hitting Update ...

I renamed many files on my drive. When I synced, freefilesync wanted to create all new files and leave me with tons of duplicates. This doesn't seem right, and I can't proceed with the sync or any other sync if this is the case. The features list says that it recognizes renamed files.
Please help ...