Date handling of Elements Organizer is a nightmare

Forum|Forum|1 month ago
April 10, 2026
3 replies
78 views

I have no idea which date and time the Organizer uses. Sometimes it’s the file’s creation date, sometimes the modification date, sometimes anything else, maybe taken from the catalog. None of those dates has any relevance for a photo or video apart from the file’s modification date which in some special cases should be selectable for sorting (what was the last thing I worked on?).

My concern is the creation date. For a photo or video clearly the only relevant date is the date and time when the object was shot by the camera. This is contained within the files as EXIF metadata in various forms. The file’s creation date has nothing to do with that since it is continuously changed by intermediate applications (Up/Downloads, Share, Clouds, WhatsApp, Email, etc.) for transport and storage of the objects.

The EXIF creation date (date/time of exposure) should be the only date and time used by Organizer for Sorting (and - see above - for special cases the modification date).

Greg_S.

Community Expert

Give me an example of when and where the Organizer is using an incorrect or inappropriate date.

Are you talking about the date that is displayed in the Organizer’s thumbnail grid when using the Details view? Or somewhere else e.g. in the Information panel? Or in the displayed Exif data?

Are you talking about when the file is Imported from a memory card or OS folder? Or is it when you have made an Edit to a file in the Editor and save the file in the Organizer either with or without saving it in a Version Set?

Greg_S.

Community Expert

If you want further help, you need to give us more information about the problem you are having with date assignments.

W

WernerGgAuthor

Known Participant

I have no idea what other information you need. I think I've described the problem in detail.

(Windows 11, Photoshop Elements 2025, Premiere Elements 2025, Lenovo Thinkpad P1 Gen 4)

Greg_S.

Community Expert

Are you talking about Elements 2026? If so, there is clearly a bug in the dates that are being used. In my experience (and that of others who have reported it on this forum) this has been manifested by a time offset that seems to be linked to GMT. I have also seen a 1 hour difference between raw and jpeg formats of the same shot. And, as you say, under some workflows an edited file is displayed in the grid under the time of the edit. Adobe is aware of these issues and hopefully will fix them.

If you are talking about a different version of the Organizer, you need to be more specific about the problem if you want us to help find a solution for you. In the meantime, here is an old blog article by an Adobe employee who explains how the Organizer handles dates (and what they mean).

W

WernerGgAuthor

Known Participant

Sorry, Greg. I forgot to tell my version. It is 2025. But the problem was the same in previous versions.

And I am not talking about a simple time shift but about the wrong handling of the object's creation dates.

(Windows 11, Photoshop Elements 2025, Premiere Elements 2025, Lenovo Thinkpad P1 Gen 4)

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