Keep Modification Date

Hello! Does anyone know a way to keep the original file creation and modification dates of the files in a tresor after re-opening it? So the files would really look the same after re-opening the tresor including the metadata? look the same compared to how they were looking like before copying them into the tresor. That would be essential for any syncing tools, since they mostly compare a files name, size, modification date to find updated ones.
Thank you for hints!

Hi.
The question is why the timestamp of your files is changing, just because you open a file. This is not normal. And I cannot reproduce it on my system.
Are you sure that nothing is changing the files? Like “auto-save” or something similar?

Hi Michael,
I am not opening the file at all. Just copying it to the tresor (encrypted folder). Drag&Drop. The Tresor is open and instantly the mod-date is changed to the current date&time. When I copy to a “normal” folder, the same file does not change.
Then I close the tresor and reopen it. The files now show the same modyfied mod-date (from the moment of dragging them into the tresor) PLUS the file-creation-date shows now the very same value (from dragging, not from opening) as the mod-date. Right after dropping them, the creation-date remained still the same. Now all dates are replaced.

OSX 10.14
Crypt 1.5.15 (dmg-2828.129)

Is there any way to prevent these dates from changing? I know, the encryption-process changes them and re-makes them after unlocking the tresor. As a consequence the “Mac-Finder” recognizes the change and adjusts the dates. Is there a way to read&log the original dates before changing AND restoring them during opening the tresor? So the files are restored with the metadata?

Or is it me and I have to change some setting?

Perhaps the best solution will be to use an external harddrive with hardware encryption for the backups and no Cryptomator in this case. Would that be as save?

Thank you for help!

The Timestamps are not changed due to the encryption process, because of the sync processes you already mentioned. That would make the whole concept behind cryptomator useless :slight_smile:
Even the encrypted files have the same timestamp as the unencrypted ones. Metadata is preserved.
see here: Security Target — Cryptomator 1.7.0 documentation

Which filesystem do you use? Webdav? Fuse? Dies this make a difference?
As I am not on mac, its hard for me to investigare. Anyone out there who can reproduce that?

Your benefit the most from cryptomator’s solution architecture if you want to store files e2e encrypted online. If you do not want to store your files online, then tools like Veracrypt (container-based solutions) are also suitable. But Im not sure if this solves your problem.

Well, that would be the expected behavior. Opening the tresor with the password and finding the files unchanged. It should make no difference If the tresor is located in a cloud or in an external drive, or even in an internal drive, right? As I know, Cryptomator does not encrypt the “original” files, just what I copy into the tresor. Syncing a workfolder (say with 5000 graphics, amongst them 48 modyfied) with the open tresor (using sync2folders or something) should exchange just the modyfied files.

Closing the tresor and syncing it with dropbox or any cloud would then compare this inner structure of the closed tresor and upload relevant parts of it. I could keep an encrypted backup on my external drive. I stay with the not encrypted original files - untill I might delete those. That is how I understand the logic.

Just Cryptomator behaves differently (or maybe the Mac-Finder does it). No solution here?

In the settings I see a drop down menu - it says WebDav with port 42427. There is no other option to change this WebDav for anything else. I could manually change the port but do not know what that is about.

Same issue for me too…
For example if a drag a drop a text file created in 2015, after locking and unlocking the vault the same file has the current timestamp date as creation date.
No more hint to original 2015 creation time.

I think i’ll stop using it if i risk to loose my data.

Cryptomator supports different (third party) technologies to integrate an unlocked vault into the filesystem (such you can browse its content with the system file browser). The different technologies to provide the virtual drive are WebDAV, FUSE and Dokany.

On MacOS, you can use WebDAV or FUSE. For the latter, you have to install macFUSE and afterwards select FUSE in the dropdown menu in the general preferences, virtual drive tab.

Especially on M1 Macs we recommend FUSE, since the system provided WebDAV implemenation has several issues (e.g., https://github.com/cryptomator/cryptomator/issues/1824)

11 months later: has this issue been resolved?
I am running in the same problem:
Copying or moving data to the cryptomator container will change the file dates - creation,changing,last access- to current timestamp.

Used Version of cryptomator: 1.5.17 (last version for win7) with dokany-lib.
on a windows 7 system (cannot change, due to legacy software)

This “feature” is confusing my snchronization process.
So have you found a way to conserve timestamps?

Thanks for your help.

Ok, found this feed on github:

This issue still seems to exist