Filetime-Shifter: Batch Modification for File Timestamps on Windows

Filetime-Shifter is a tool for batch modification of Windows file timestamps, specifically the creation time (ctime), modification time (mtime), and access time (atime). It uses the Python win32file API, making it ideal for scenarios where you need to correct file timestamps to match actual creation or modification times.

Background knowledge

• ctime: The file's creation timestamp, indicating when the file was first created.
• mtime: The file's last modification timestamp, representing the last time the file's content was changed.
• atime: The file's last access timestamp, indicating the last time the file was opened or read.

Motivation

Due to an inaccurate time setting on my action camera, the timestamps on my photos and videos didn’t accurately reflect when they were captured. I developed this tool to batch adjust file timestamps, making it easy to offset the times as needed.

Usage

Functions

• to_time(time_str, time_format="%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S"): Converts a time string to pywintypes.Time format, in order to compatible with setFileTime.
• getFileTime(filename): Retrieves the ctime, atime, and mtime of a file.
• setFileTime(filename, ctime=None, mtime=None, atime=None): Modifies file timestamps; any parameter set to None will leave the corresponding timestamp unchanged.

Basic Usage of Functions

You can directly use the setFileTime(filename, ctime, mtime, atime) function to set the desired creation, modification, and access times for a specified file. Pass None for ctime, mtime, or atime to leave that timestamp unchanged.

For example, if you want to modify ctime:

file = "example.txt"
ctime = to_time("2024/10/29 00:00:00")
setFileTime(file, ctime)

Batch Adjustments Using Time Offset

To apply a time offset to multiple files, refer to the example in the __main__ function:

1. Set two timestamps: the current timestamp (old_date) and the target timestamp (new_date).
2. Calculate the time offset (offset), then add this offset to the creation and modification times of each file.

from glob import glob

files = glob("<path_to_your_file_directory>/*") # specify the directory containing the files
old_date = to_time("2024/10/29 00:10:00")        # original timestamp
new_date = to_time("2024/10/29 00:14:00")        # target timestamp
offset = new_date - old_date                    # calculate offset

for file in files:
    ctime, atime, mtime = getFileTime(file)
    setFileTime(file, ctime=ctime+offset, mtime=mtime+offset)

Requirements

• Windows Environment: This tool relies on the win32file API and works only on Windows systems.
• Python: Python 3 is recommended.

Notes

Ensure that the script has the appropriate permissions to access and modify the files in question; otherwise, the timestamp updates may fail.

License

This code is free for personal use and modification.