How to Retrieve the Last Updated Date of a File Using Node.js

Learn how to use Node.js to get the last updated date of a file.

The fs module in Node.js provides all the necessary file functions. One of these functions is statSync(), which allows us to get file details synchronously.

To retrieve the last updated date of a file, simply call statSync() and pass in the file path (either relative or absolute). It will return an object that contains the mtime property.

The mtime property is a Date object instance that represents the last modified date of the file.

Here’s an example code snippet:

const fs = require('fs');

const getFileUpdatedDate = (path) => {
   const stats = fs.statSync(path);
   return stats.mtime;
}

If you need to work with the Date object further, you can refer to our JavaScript Date guide.

Tags: Node.js, file handling, fs module, last updated date