i couldn't tell you why, and it seems ridiculous that it would work that way, but that's sort of the unsatisfying conclusion i've come to after years of confusion about folder sorting. but i don't think that modifying one file in a folder necessarily causes the folder to be marked as 'modified' by the finder's sorter. like if you open and edit a word document, it will pretty much instantly reorder the finder contents and move that file up to the top of date modified. If you do have date modified turned on, then this is just a hunch, but i think the way it calculates whether or not a folder has been 'modified' is different from how it makes that same calculation for a single file. is it possible you chose 'date added' instead of 'date modified'? you probably didn't, but i figured i should start with that. To get information about viewing and optimizing storage space on your Mac: Open Storage settings.There are multiple options for sort-by-date in finder in sierra: date last opened, date added, or date modified. To get information about warranty and repair services for your Mac: Open About settings. To review information about memory usage for your Mac: Open Activity Monitor. You can also check the following to learn more about your Mac: If you call Apple Support, you can assist the support technician by providing a copy of your system configuration.

Send a system report to Apple: Choose File > Send to Apple. Save a system report: Choose File > Save, then enter a name and choose a location for the report. Print a system report: Choose File > Print. The report includes most of the hardware and network information, but leaves out most of the software information.

See a shorter report: Choose File > Show Less Information. The report could be a few megabytes in size. See a longer report: Choose File > Show More Information.

To view, print, save, or send your report to Apple, do any of the following: Tip: You can also press and hold the Option key, then choose Apple menu > System Information to open the system report.

Find files by date on a mac