Guide

How to sort files by date added in Finder

In list view, choose View › Show View Options, tick Date Added, then click its column header to sort.

The built-in way

Add the column and sort

Open the folder and switch to list view (⌘2).
Choose View › Show View Options (⌘J) and tick "Date Added".
Click the Date Added column header. Click again to reverse the order.

Tick "Always open in list view" in the same window to keep it for this folder.

Another way

Or group by it

Choose View › Use Groups, then View › Group By › Date Added. Files gather under Today, Previous 7 Days, Previous 30 Days and so on.

With Omaculate

Let Oma do it, and check her work first

Omaculate uses the same Date Added that Finder shows. "Older than 30 days" in a recipe means added to the folder more than 30 days ago.

Recipe: Archive old downloads Anything in Downloads, older than 30 days, is moved to Downloads/Archive.

Questions

What is the difference between Date Added and Date Created?

Date Created is when the file was made. Date Added is when it arrived in the folder you are looking at, for example the moment it finished downloading.

Why is Date Added missing for some files?

Files copied in some ways, or from some drives, don’t record it. Finder then shows nothing in that column.

More guides

Let Oma have a look at your Downloads.

Free for one folder. Everything free for 3 days, then Grand Oma is $14.99, once.

Coming soon to the Mac App Store Needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later