How to Change File Dates

Changing a File Date on a Mac Running OS X

1. 
   Launch the OS X "Terminal." Pull down the "Applications" menu, then click on "Utilities", then launch Terminal.
2. 
   Find the file path of the file you are interested in. Drag and drop the file onto the Terminal window, and Terminal will provide the file path at the command prompt. The file path can then be copied.^{[2] X Research source}
3. 
   Enter the terminal command "touch -mt YYYYMMDDhhmm.ss [file path]" into the Terminal. This will change the modification date. This sends a command to the touch utility (which sets the modification and access times of files) to set the new date and time. NOTE: YYYY means the year, MM the month, DD the day, hh the hour, mm the minute, ss the second of the target time.
4. 
   Enter the command "touch -at YYYYMMDDhhmm.ss [file path]". This will change the access date.
5. 
   Enter the command "touch -t YYYYMMDDhhmm.ss [file path]". This will change the creation date, unfortunately, only if the target time is before the original creation time. If your target time is after the original creation time, see the citation for the solution.^{[3] X Research source}