Saving gmail file attachments without changing their date/time stamp?

I apologize for posting to the "general" forum here - even though my issue concerns gmail, it may have something to do with file handling in Windows 7, so I'm shooting for the broader audience in this forum.

How do I save an attached file from my gmail account, such that the date and time stamp, once saved to my local computer, remains the same as that of the original file?

That's how I just always assumed it was being done, and yet with gmail, the files are saved to my local computer with their save date/time, not the date/time of the actual file.

This is just wrong! If I send a file to 15 people, I want each recipient to have a saved file with the same date/time - not 15 different times based on when they saved them.

What am I missing, to force gmail/Windows to preserve the original file date and time stamp?

BTW, I posted this question to a gmail user forum, and the only answer I got so far is unhelpful, and likely wrong, gobbledygook.

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
I doubt that can happen
At best there might be a universal Date Created or Date Taken on all of the files.
The camera it's self would enter that info "if" the time and date were correctly set on the device.

Just to clarify, I am talking all files, not just image/jpg files.

450125 said:

How do I save an attached file from my gmail account, such that the date and time stamp, once saved to my local computer, remains the same as that of the original file?
[...]
If I send a file to 15 people, I want each recipient to have a saved file with the same date/time - not 15 different times based on when they saved them.

Not happening. LastWriteTimes, and such, are properties of the file system and aren't stored in the files themselves.

When you move a file across a volume, the OS (Windows) does it's best to convert information such as file CreationTime, LastWriteTimes, etc. to the new volume's format. When you send a file across the internet, the file's metadata is nowhere to be stored and is completely lost. You'll never be able to know the original creation time of a downloaded file.


A possible solution for preserving file properties over the Internet involves packaging your files using zip software before sending them. From here:

If you want to keep the original creation/modify dates, then consider using a "zip" program such as "pkzip" or "7-zip" to archive/compress the file to a .zip file then email that .zip file. When the .zip file is received in an email, the original files and dates can be extracted from the .zip file.

Pyprohly said:

450125 said:

How do I save an attached file from my gmail account, such that the date and time stamp, once saved to my local computer, remains the same as that of the original file?
[...]
If I send a file to 15 people, I want each recipient to have a saved file with the same date/time - not 15 different times based on when they saved them.

Not happening. LastWriteTimes, and such, are properties of the file system and aren't stored in the files themselves.

When you move a file across a volume, the OS (Windows) does it's best to convert information such as file CreationTime, LastWriteTimes, etc. to the new volume's format. When you send a file across the internet, the file's metadata is nowhere to be stored and is completely lost. You'll never be able to know the original creation time of a downloaded file.


A possible solution for preserving file properties over the Internet involves packaging your files using zip software before sending them. From here:

If you want to keep the original creation/modify dates, then consider using a "zip" program such as "pkzip" or "7-zip" to archive/compress the file to a .zip file then email that .zip file. When the .zip file is received in an email, the original files and dates can be extracted from the .zip file.

I had no idea! This is a detail I can't believe I've missed all these years.

Why then at work, when I save a file from Outlook 2013 to my Windows 7 computer, is the file date and time preserved based on when the sender created the file?

450125 said:

Why then at work, when I save a file from Outlook 2013 to my Windows 7 computer, is the file date and time preserved based on when the sender created the file?

Your work computer must be special.