PDF files saving wrong date

Report · Sep 16, 2019

When saving PDF files the creation and modified date is wrong. They have various months and days and time but the year is always 2003. This has not always been the case. I am not sure when it started I noticed it about a year ago. I scan timesheets every two weeks that's when I noticed (attached screen shoot shows mixed dates and all 2003 dates are wrong. There are no 2019 save dates). All files saved as PDF now show year 2003 and wrong date and time. The other attachment shows PDF I saved today 09-16-2019 with wrong date. I am just now trying to find a solution. I have searched in settings and I found nothing about time zone or setting time to computer clock. However this doesn't seem to be the case because the year and dates are not the same as the computer clock. Please help me find a fix to this problem.

I didn't notice that they were saving with the wrong date until much later. Others may be having this problem and not noticed.

Report · Jan 06, 2022

I have this same problem. All of my saved pdf's save with date of 2009. Cannot find any fix.

Report · Feb 24, 2025

3 years later and I am also experiencing this issue- my files are now suddenly saving with a modified date in November 2007. I've checked the date of the server these files are saved on and it is current... that was the only thing to check I saw when searching this issue.

Report · Mar 12, 2025

Hi @MGlover,

Hope you are doing well. Sorry for the trouble, and the delayed response.

In case you are still looking for a solution, here are a few suggestions to try:

Incorrect System Clock on Your Computer

Check the date and time settings on your local machine.
If your system clock is wrong, Acrobat may be picking up the incorrect timestamp.

File Server Time Sync Issues

Even though the server shows the correct time now, it may have been out of sync when the files were saved.
Try saving a new file and checking if the issue persists.
Restarting the server might help sync the timestamps.

Metadata Corruption in the PDF File

Some PDFs can retain old metadata, which may cause Acrobat to display incorrect modified dates.
Open the affected PDF in Acrobat, go to File > Properties, and check the metadata.
Try doing a Save As under a new name and see if the modified date updates correctly.

PDF Versioning or Shadow Copies

If your files are stored on a network drive with versioning enabled, an older version of the file might be getting restored.
Check for previous versions in the file properties on Windows.

Issues with File Handling

Some versions of Acrobat have been known to exhibit odd timestamp behavior.
If you’re using an older version, try updating Acrobat to the latest release.
If updating doesn’t help, try disabling Fast Web View (Preferences > Documents > Uncheck "Save As optimizes for Fast Web View") and save the file again.

Permissions Issues

If you don’t have proper write permissions, the file might not be truly updating, and an old modified timestamp could be retained.
Try saving the file in a different location (e.g., Desktop) to see if the issue persists.

Hope this gives you some clarity on the situation.

Regards,
Souvik.