Download A Better Finder Attributes for macOS

You’ve just returned from a trip with two cameras and a phone. The timestamps are all over the place. A Better Finder Attributes 7 lets you fix that in a few clicks—shifting creation dates, matching modified dates to EXIF data, and wrangling file attributes that Finder won’t touch.

It handles the basics you’d expect—changing a file’s last modified date or tweaking JPEG EXIF timestamps—and reaches into more specific corners. The latest release writes the Apple QuickTime creation date so video apps like Photos and Final Cut Pro see the right content creation date. It also accepts more GPS coordinate formats when you edit tags, and adds a handy info button to the title bar. For photographers with older gear, it adjusts date and time data inside CRW, ARF, and CIFF files. One particularly smooth move: you can synchronise a photo’s Finder modification date with its shooting date in a single action.

Fitting into your everyday setup

This isn't the kind of tool you open once and forget. It slots into workflows that already rely on Finder tags, Spotlight comments and colour labels. You might use Hazel to watch a folder and rename files based on date—A Better Finder Attributes sets those dates first so the automation makes sense. The QuickTime creation date support in version 7.50 means Final Cut Pro imports sit in the right order on the timeline without manual sorting. Photos.app reads the same metadata, so your library stops showing holiday snaps dated 1 January 1970.

If you use Lightroom or Capture One, you know they read EXIF dates faithfully. Set those correctly with this utility before importing and the catalogues build themselves without gaps. For people who share files across Windows servers or NAS drives, the creation and modification date stamps travel properly—no more "modified today because I copied it" confusion.

QuickTime 1904-date fix lands content creation dates correctly

The QuickTime fix deserves another mention, not because it's flashy but because it removes a quiet frustration. Before this, movies shot on a DSLR often showed the default 1904 date in Apple apps. Now the content creation date lands where editors expect it. Less scrolling through raw footage hunting for the right clip.

The IPTC Date Created and EXIF time zone offset sync means embedded metadata doesn't drift when you batch-process images across time zones. If you've ever had a shoot in London timestamped as if it happened in Sydney, that one-hour DST error is finally gone. The expanded GPS format support in the change tag action also saves a paste-and-pray step when coordinates come from different sources—GPX files, drone logs, even hand-typed lat/long pairs now parse without reformatting.

Photoshop file users got their shooting dates back. That one matters if you archive layered PSDs alongside raw files and expect them to sort together by capture time.

Preview panel and test copies before batch changes

• Start with a copy folder. Drag a handful of test files in before you batch-process a year's worth of photos. The preview panel shows exactly what will change before you commit.
• Set up a Finder sidebar shortcut. Drop the app into the toolbar or keep it in your Dock for a week. You'll spot more uses once it's one click away—fixing a scanned document's date, re-timing screenshots, sorting downloaded assets.
• Learn the sync action early. The command that matches Finder modification date to EXIF shooting date is worth memorising. It solves the most common timestamp mess with two clicks.
• Check the info button. Added in 7.50, it surfaces field-specific help without digging through a manual. Useful when you're inside a RAW format you haven't touched before, like CIFF or ARF.
• Pair it with Quick Look. Select files in Finder, tap Space to preview, then open the utility only when you spot a date problem. It cuts down on unnecessary launches.

• macOS 14.6 or newer
• 64-bit Intel or Apple Silicon Mac