Find a File by Date Modified on Windows and Mac

You know you worked on it last Tuesday, but you cannot remember what you called it. Here is how to search by date on Windows and Mac, and how to ask Key to do it for you.

Plenty of people remember when they worked on a file better than they remember its name. "It was sometime in early March." "I had it open just before the holiday." That is enough to go on, because every file carries a date modified: the last day and time it was saved.

Both Windows and Mac can search by that date. Below are the steps for each, a few tricks that save time, and then how to ask Key to do the search for you.

What "date modified" actually means

The date modified is the last time anyone saved a change to the file. Opening a file to look at it does not change it. Saving it does. So if you opened last week's report on Monday but only read it, the date will still show the last time it was saved.

There is also a "date created", which is when the file first appeared on your computer. A file that was copied or downloaded can have a creation date that is newer than its modified date, which is confusing. When you are hunting for something you worked on, date modified is usually the one you want.

Find a file by date modified on Windows

These steps are for Windows 10 and 11. The buttons look a little different in each, but the idea is the same.

Use the date filter

Open File Explorer (press Windows + E).
Click a folder to search in. To search everything, pick This PC. A smaller folder such as Documents is faster.
Click the search box at the top right and type an asterisk: *. This means "show me everything" and makes the search options appear.
On Windows 11, click Search options on the toolbar, then Date modified. On Windows 10, click the Search tab, then Date modified.
Choose a range such as Today, Yesterday, Earlier this week, Last week or Earlier this month. If you see a custom range option, you can pick exact dates instead.

The search box will change to show your choice, and the list below will shrink to files saved in that period.

Or type the date yourself

You can skip the buttons and type straight into the search box. To see files saved between two dates, type this:

modified:3/1/2026 .. 3/15/2026

Note the two dots between the dates. Write the dates in the format your computer uses. In the United States that is month, day, year. You can add a word or a file type as well, for example invoice modified:3/1/2026 .. 3/15/2026.

Then sort the list

Once you have results, switch to the Details view so you can see the dates. Click the Date modified heading to put the newest files first. Click it again to flip the order. If the column is not there, right-click any column heading and tick Date modified.

If Search options is missing, click inside the search box first and type something. Windows only shows those controls once you are actually searching.

Find a file by date modified on Mac

Finder can filter by date too. It takes a few more clicks the first time.

Search with a date rule

Open Finder and click the folder you want to search, or stay on This Mac to search everything.
Press Command + F to start a search. Type a word, or leave it empty, and press Return.
Click the + (add) button below the search field to add a rule.
In the first pop-up menu, choose Other, then look for Last Modified Date in the list. Tick the box next to it and click OK.
Now choose how to match: for example within last 30 days, or is before or is after a date you type in.

The results update as you change the rule. Add another rule, such as Kind is PDF, to narrow things down further.

Or type the date

In the Finder search box you can also type something like modified:<=7/29/24 to find items modified on or before that date. It works, though the rule buttons are easier to get right.

Save the search for next time

If you will want the same search again, click Save under the search field. Give it a name and leave Add To Sidebar ticked. This makes a Smart Folder, which refreshes itself each time you open it. A good one is "Last Modified Date within last 7 days", a handy list of what you worked on this week.

Sort by date

In a Finder window, switch to list view (Command + 2). Click the Date Modified heading to sort. Click it again to reverse the order.

When the date is not enough

Dates can mislead you. A few things to try if the file will not turn up:

Widen the range. Memory is usually off by a few days. Search the whole month instead of one day.
Check the file type. Add a filter for documents, spreadsheets or pictures to cut the list down.
Remember the date may be newer than you think. If you or a sync program opened and saved the file later, its date moved forward.
Search by what is inside. If you remember a word from the file, our guide on finding a file by what is inside it is the next step.

If Windows search itself seems to be missing things, see how to search for a file on Windows 11 when Search can't find it.

Ask Key to find it for you

Key is a free assistant for Windows and Mac. You can speak to it or type to it, and both give the same result. Tell it what you remember, in your own words. Half a sentence is enough, and you do not need to know the filter names or where the buttons are.

Key works out what you meant, finds your files, and reads the document to be sure it found the right one. If two files match, it asks which one you meant. While it works, a small panel shows what it is doing, and you can stop it at any point.

KeyVoice

Find the file I was working on last Tuesday afternoon

looked through files saved last Tuesdayopened the closest matches to read thempicked the one that fits and showed it

I found a document you saved last Tuesday at 3:40 in the afternoon, and I have opened it for you.

Checked: the file's saved date is last Tuesday and its contents match what you described.

Key tells you what it did and checks the result before it reports back. If you ask it to move a file somewhere, it can do that too, and anything it removes goes to the Recycle Bin or the Trash, never deleted for good.

Key is free to download, with every feature included, and it runs on Windows 10 and 11 and on Macs with macOS 11 Big Sur or newer. To see what else it can do, read what an AI assistant on your PC can do every day.

A quick recap

Date modified is the last time a file was saved, not opened.
On Windows, type * in the File Explorer search box, then use Date modified, or type modified: with two dates.
On Mac, press Command + F in Finder and add a Last Modified Date rule.
Sort by the Date modified column to see the newest files first.
Or tell Key roughly when you worked on it and let it find the file.

How to find a file by the date you last worked on it