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Date and Time of Application Install does not match up under the System Logs

I

iphonefreak450

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 14, 2014
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I had recently decided to download LibreOffice and then put the DMG installation file inside my external USB flash drive on Aug 22.

Then later that same night on Aug 22, I ran the installer from the USB drive and now it's under the Applications list. Which is fine, no problem.

Then under the Applications folder, I clicked on the Libreoffice app and then I looked under the Get-Info summary page and the dates Created and Modified are from Aug 9th. Which does not make sense at all.

However, as I remember, one time I did have LibreOffice installed on this machine but I think it was earlier than August. Cannot remember when.

I also looked under the System Reports / Software / Applications, and under LibreOffice it also has the date modified on August 9th.

Is there anyway to look at other locations so I can confirm the CORRECT ACTUAL INSTALLATION DATE which was on August 22th?

 
Last edited:
LibreOffice does not have an installer, it's just copy-paste from the dmg, so it will not show up in System Information (Reports) - Software - Installations.
The dates created and modified are from when the developer created the app.
In Finder, see Date added, that's when you "installed" the app.
dateadded.jpg
 
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In Finder, goto /Applications and set View - as List. Add all three date columns - created, modified and added.

Apps installed as part of macOS have all three dates the same - I think to the date when the macOS build was created by Apple. This behaviour is, at least in part, due to macOS being in a read-only volume, though this distinction is hidden by Finder.

For other apps:
Date Created is the date that version of the app was created by the developer.
Date Added is the date it was added to /Applications <<<<< The installation date.
Date Modified varies. Can be same as date created or same as date modified or somewhere in between. I have not investigated the logic behind this!

I am sure there are some exceptions. But Date Added is most likely what you are looking for.

Also you can look in System Information > Software > Installations. But that is missing many apps - e.g. those installed by drag and drop from a dmg.

@bogdanw Sorry, I didn't mean to duplicate what you said. My answer was so long winded that I didn't complete it before you posted yours.
 
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bogdanw said:
LibreOffice does not have an installer, it's just copy-paste from the dmg, so it will not show up in System Information (Reports) - Software - Installations.
The dates created and modified are from when the developer created the app.
In Finder, see Date added, that's when you "installed" the app.
View attachment 2251989
Click to expand...
Where did you get this image shot from?
Is it from the Finder/Applications?

By the way, it did cross my mind that the date modified was from the developers was not too sure.
 
I managed to customise the view options under the Finder / Applications and now I was able to select show Date Added.

Many thanks.
 
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