Update Last Modified Time For File in Java Example Program

Change Last Modified Time in Java

In this tutorial, we will explain how easy it is to use NIO to change last modified time information against a File in Java. We had explained earlier how to modify the date created timestamp using Java. This example can be considered as an extension of that.

Current Modified TimeStamp - Input

We will use the following input file and check the file back after changing the time. A screendump of the file is given below:

Update Modified Time Stamp for a File Using Java

Java Program - Example

The Java program that you can use to change the file modified time, is provided below:

import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
import java.nio.file.attribute.FileTime;
import static java.nio.file.LinkOption.NOFOLLOW_LINKS;
public class ChangeModifiedTime {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        /* Access the file first */
        Path path = Paths.get("C:", "test.xml");
        /* Get System time to set against created timestamp */
        long time = System.currentTimeMillis();
        /* Get FileTime value */
        FileTime fileTime = FileTime.fromMillis(time);
        /* Change File Modified time stamp value*/
        Files.setAttribute(path, "basic:lastModifiedTime", fileTime, NOFOLLOW_LINKS);                                   
    }
}

This program uses Java NIO library,  to modify the last updated time stamp value. The same file attributes after running this program is provided below:

Update Modified time stamp in Java - Output Screenshot

This example can be used in any OS, and can be very handy in situations where you need to change modified time property for a file in the file system. Try this example, and post a comment if something is not working. We will provide another Java NIO example soon, that will explain how to change file accessed time stamp information. Stay connected.