How to touch a file to a certain datetime in Python?

Question

In Linux, I can change the creation date of a file using touch:

touch -a -m -t 201512180130.09 file.txt

In Python, I can use the touch command to change the creation date, but I don't see any arguments to set it to a different date than the current one.

from pathlib import Path
Path('path/to/file.txt').touch()

How can I set the date in Python?

Why on earth was this downvoted? @ShravanYadav: The question you linked to is just about touching a file, not about setting a timestamp. — Michael Scheper
– Michael Scheper, Commented Oct 30, 2018 at 14:18
I have not downvoted it. Why should I downvote and put an answer to it? — Shravan Yadav
– Shravan Yadav, Commented Oct 31, 2018 at 9:44

Shravan Yadav · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-25 12:03:15Z

4

You can also call the touch command in python

from subprocess import call
call(["touch","-a","-m","-t","201512180130.09","file.txt"])

edited Feb 25, 2018 at 12:03

answered Feb 25, 2018 at 11:49

Shravan Yadav

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2 Comments

Shravan Yadav Over a year ago

sorry there is already answer to this stackoverflow.com/questions/1158076/…

Michael Scheper Over a year ago

This is not a cross-platform solution, and you've linked to a question, not an answer. The question isn't even the same; it's just about touching, not changing a file's timestamp.

stenci · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-13 15:32:58Z

4

You can use os.utime to set the access and modified times of a file.

answered Nov 13, 2020 at 15:32

stenci

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