How to get time information of a file in C#

In this article, you will learn how to get time-related information of a file. There are two different methods to achieve this. You can either use static methods of File class or call methods of FileIno class after initiating it.

Get time information of a file in C# using the File Class

Let’s say you have a text file named MyFile inside your application startup folder and you need to know when it was created, modified, or other time-related information.

First, you need to add the IO namespace:

using System.IO;

Get local time information using File Class

The code below will show the file information in a MessgeBox:

  void GetFileInfo()
        {
            try
            {
                StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
                string FileName = "MyFile.txt";
                string FilePath = Application.StartupPath + "\" + FileName;
                DateTime creationTime = File.GetCreationTime(FilePath);
                DateTime lastModifiedTime = File.GetLastWriteTime(FilePath);
                DateTime lastAccessedTime = File.GetLastAccessTime(FilePath);

                stringBuilder.AppendLine(FileName + " Time Information");
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("");
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("Creation Time: " + creationTime);
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("Last Modified Time: " + lastModifiedTime);
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("Last Accessed Time: " + lastAccessedTime);

                MessageBox.Show(stringBuilder.ToString());
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                throw ex;
            }

        }

Get UTC information using File Class

Now let’s say you want to get the UTC(Coordinated Universal Time) information of a file. The File Class has properties that will return the desired time information in UTC as well:

        void GetFileInfoUTC()
        {
            try
            {
                StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
                string FileName = "MyFile.txt";
                string FilePath = Application.StartupPath + "\" + FileName;
                DateTime creationTimeUtc = File.GetCreationTimeUtc(FilePath);
                DateTime lastModifiedTimeUtc = File.GetLastWriteTimeUtc(FilePath);
                DateTime lastAccessedTimeUtc = File.GetLastAccessTimeUtc(FilePath);

                stringBuilder.AppendLine(FileName + " Time UTC Information");
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("");
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("Creation Time: " + creationTimeUtc);
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("Last Modified Time: " + lastModifiedTimeUtc);
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("Last Accessed Time: " + lastAccessedTimeUtc);

                MessageBox.Show(stringBuilder.ToString());
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                throw ex;
            }

        }

Get time information of a file in C# using the FileInfo Class

Another method to get the time-related information of the file is by using the FileInfo class.

Get local time information using FileInfo Class

  void GetFileInfo()
        {
            try
            {
                StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
                string FileName = "MyFile.txt";
                string FilePath = Application.StartupPath + "\" + FileName;

                FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(FilePath);
                  
                DateTime creationTime = fileInfo.CreationTime;
                DateTime lastModifiedTime = fileInfo.LastWriteTime;
                DateTime lastAccessTime = fileInfo.LastAccessTime;
                 
                stringBuilder.AppendLine(FileName + " Time Information");
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("");
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("Creation Time: " + creationTime);
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("Last Modified Time: " + lastModifiedTime);
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("Last Accessed Time: " + lastAccessTime);

                MessageBox.Show(stringBuilder.ToString());
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                throw ex;
            }

        }

Get UTC information using FileInfo Class

  void GetFileInfoUTC()
        {
            try
            {
                StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
                string FileName = "MyFile.txt";
                string FilePath = Application.StartupPath + "\" + FileName;

                FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(FilePath);
                  
                DateTime creationTimeUtc = fileInfo.CreationTimeUtc;
                DateTime lastModifiedTimeUtc = fileInfo.LastWriteTimeUtc;
                DateTime lastAccessTimeUtc = fileInfo.LastAccessTimeUtc;
                 
                stringBuilder.AppendLine(FileName + " Time UTC Information");
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("");
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("Creation Time: " + creationTimeUtc);
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("Last Modified Time: " + lastModifiedTimeUtc);
                stringBuilder.AppendLine("Last Accessed Time: " + lastAccessTimeUtc);

                MessageBox.Show(stringBuilder.ToString());
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                throw ex;
            }

        }

Happy Coding!

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