Preserve file data on transfer to External HD

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Level 1

9 points

Preserve file data on transfer to External HD

Hi there,

I'm copying photos from the Photos app in MacOS across to an external WD Passport external hard drive by dragging and dropping them. They copy across just fine, but when I go into the Finder window for the external hard drive and sort by date created or date modified those dates are the date I have transferred the photos. I can't find the window to sort the photos by actual date created, as you can in Windows Explorer, and indeed if I click the Get Info it doesn't show the original file date.

How do I copy the photos across and preserve all the original file information please?

Thanks

MacBook Pro

Posted on Feb 22, 2023 1:44 PM

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Answer 1

Owl-53

Level 10

105,313 points

Feb 23, 2023 5:00 AM in response to jlbloom

From the Photos Application >> Use the Export function and assign the Destination to the External Drive

Experiment and Test

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,122 points

Feb 23, 2023 4:57 AM in response to jlbloom

The file system data and the content metadata are separate. When you copy a file, it creates a new file, so the file gets the current system time/date. The content of the file should retain all of the EXIF metadata which contains the content creation date.

A "file" is just a wrapper around the content.

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,122 points

Feb 23, 2023 8:37 AM in response to jlbloom

Yes and whilst that may be the case if…

No, it is always the case. The "file" is merely a wrapper or container for the content. The content has a date created embedded within it. Finder is a file manager, not a content manager. Photos is the content manager for image files.

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Answer 4

Feb 23, 2023 4:16 AM in response to jlbloom

Go to List View in Finder, then If you right click or Command Click on the the top Column headers, you can select the one that says, "Date Created"

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Answer 5

VikingOSX

Level 10

124,712 points

Feb 23, 2023 5:35 AM in response to jlbloom

Copying files in the Finder, or by other means not shown by P. Phillips will invoke the operating system to set the current date/time stamp on the newly created files on the external drive. Depending on the target drive's formatting, some Finder extended attributes may not make the journey either.

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Answer 6

Owl-53

Level 10

105,313 points

Feb 23, 2023 6:10 AM in response to jlbloom

" huge OS failure " ?

Then have a few suggestions ;

1 - Get Support Choose a product and we’ll find you the best solution.Start now and open an Apple Support Ticket as they are Apple Employees to deal will these types of issues .

2 - Product Feedback - Apple and make it known to Apple regarding this ongoing issue

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Answer 7

VikingOSX

Level 10

124,712 points

Feb 23, 2023 6:55 AM in response to jlbloom

Not mad. The operating system is UNIX with Finder lipstick and what I described is Finder asking the operating system to provide the date created and modified to the new file arriving on the external medium.

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Answer 8

Feb 23, 2023 4:24 AM in response to jlbloom

This problem seems like it would be worth dropping Apple a bug report here:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

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Answer 9

jlbloom Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 23, 2023 4:19 AM in response to Randall_2023

Hi there, yes I’ve tried this but both date created and date modified show the date I copied them across and not the date the photo was actually taken. That information shows absolutely fine inside the Photos app on the desktop, but seems to get lost when the files are dragged and dropped onto the external drive. This is not something that happens in Windows. It seems to me that whilst macOS is so competent on so many things its filing system and file management is quite awkward compared to Microsoft.

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Answer 10

jlbloom Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 23, 2023 5:01 AM in response to Barney-15E

Yes and whilst that may be the case if I were to download these photos from iCloud Photos to a windows PC and then drag and drop to an external hard drive they could easily be sort by date taken inside windows explorer. It’s odd that Finder doesn’t offer the same ability. In fact as I said above the date created, date modified and date taken are in effect all the date the files were copied to the drive. In PC terms whilst the date created would be the date the file was created on the drive the date modified or date sort option to order photos chronologically would all still be possible. Here in Finder it is not and that’s really strange / a massive oversight of file management if it’s not possible. No one seems to be able to give me the answer on how it’s fixed though. Thanks

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Answer 11

jlbloom Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 23, 2023 5:27 AM in response to Owl-53

I just tried the file > export approach, and it creates the same issue. Date Created / Date Modified are today's date, neither represents the date the photo was taken, which shows inside the Photos app if you press i.

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Answer 12

jlbloom Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 23, 2023 5:34 AM in response to VikingOSX

Firstly, that's mad, and a huge oversight by Apple, but in any case, as I said above I've tried the Export method and it does the same...seems to me like a huge OS failure actually.

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Preserve file data on transfer to External HD

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