1

While inserting a file (ReportRunner.exx) in an Outlook email, I noticed that the datetime it displayed for a file I had just updated was outdated. In Explorer, it shows the correct datetime (Outlook dialog on top, Explorer on the bottom):

enter image description here

Why the difference? My theory is that the Outlook value is "Date", meaning when the file was first created, whereas Explorer shows the more meaningful "Date modified" - but why would Outlook do this? Isn't date modified a more useful date to show than creation date?

B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven
  • 284
  • 2
  • 14
  • 33
  • Why don't you configure Explorer to also show "Date Created" and then you can answer your own question. – DavidPostill Mar 07 '16 at 17:11
  • 1
    You're quite right that it is irrational to use the creation date in the file open dialogue. I don't have a recent Outlook or Office on a recent Windows, but other programs (`notepad`, etc) use the modified date in their open dialogue, though you can right-click on the column headers and add / remove the columns which appear (as in `explorer`), and this is maintained between runs. Maybe this will work on Outlook too. – AFH Mar 09 '16 at 01:01

1 Answers1

1

There are several dates associated with files. Among them are "Date created", "Date modified", and "Date accessed". Your screenshot shows the "Date" column in the "Insert File" dialog and the "Date modified" column in the explorer view. As you can see, these columns show different information.

The "Date" column doesn't match up 1:1 with the other date columns, instead using an algorithm to try to figure out which date is more useful and displaying that as described here and here.

Community
  • 1
Ouroborus
  • 2,792
  • 2
  • 15
  • 32
  • It seems odd to me that the creation date would be considered to be more useful than the modified date. After all, don't you want to be sure as you're attaching a file that it is the most recent version? – B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven Mar 07 '16 at 17:33
  • 1
    @B.ClayShannon I'd agree. I don't use the "Date" column myself, preferring to use "Date modified" instead. – Ouroborus Mar 07 '16 at 17:35