Show Created and Last Modified Date/Time Directly Inside Notes on Mobile

Help
1

I would like to request a more convenient way to view a note’s metadata directly while the note is open, especially on Android.

Currently, Created and Last Modified date/time information can be accessed through the File Explorer by long-pressing a note. However, this requires leaving the currently open note, returning to the file list, finding the note, and long-pressing it.

For everyday use, it would be much more convenient to view this information directly from within the open note.

Why this would be useful:

• Quickly check when a note was originally created.
• Quickly see when the note was last modified.
• Avoid leaving the currently open note just to check basic metadata.
• Make note history and context easier to understand.
• Provide a more convenient experience on mobile devices, where navigation takes more effort.

Suggested implementation:

When viewing an open note, provide an optional way to access:

Created: [Date and Time]
Last modified: [Date and Time]

This could be available through the note’s menu, a dedicated information/details section, or as an optional metadata display.

The key request is to make Created and Last Modified date/time easily accessible while the note itself is open, without requiring users to return to the File Explorer and long-press the file.

I believe this would be a useful quality-of-life improvement, particularly for Android and mobile users.

Thank you for considering this feature.

2

The ones you see File list is metadata embedded to the file itself, as opposed to texts written inside the file.

Obsidian displays only the latter “in the note”, this is fundamental which I think they won’t change it.

The solution is to actually write that data inside your notes as text:

Use properties, it’s perfect for this. Set a key as “created time” and another one “last modified” , the naming is yours, but you get the idea

Then use Template/Templater to write the timestamp on “created” automatically when you insert a template

Use “auto update modified” (or something, can’t recall precisely) plugin to auto update “modified”

Enable “show properties in note” in obsidian settings.

Then you can finally see two timestamp inside the note, but not as metadata outside of the note anymore, but as actual text you wrote in the note

There, solved

3

Thanks for the detailed explanation and suggestion.

I understand your workaround using Properties, Templates/Templater, and an auto-update plugin. That can definitely work for users who want to store and manage Created and Last Modified timestamps as part of the note itself.

However, my feature request is slightly different. I was referring to the actual file metadata — the note’s original creation date/time and last modification date/time — and being able to view that information conveniently in the Obsidian Android app without manually adding and maintaining timestamps inside every note.

For many users, simply viewing the existing file metadata would be useful for note history and reference, especially without changing the note content or relying on templates/plugins.

So I understand that your workaround solves the problem by storing timestamps inside the note, but I still think native visibility of Created and Modified metadata, particularly on mobile, would be a valuable feature.

Thanks again for the helpful explanation.

4

With Bases Core PlugIn you can easily show file.ctime and file.mtime.
But be aware that the are not ‘reliable’. This has been discussed in forum here. So the much better way is the solution @yubo has proposed. Which BTW works perfect. The PlugIn is ‘Update modified date’ by Alain Grainger, so no manual maintenance.

5

Thank you for the additional explanation and for sharing the suggested workaround. I understand the approach and appreciate the helpful suggestions. I may consider trying this setup.

However, my original request is slightly different. I was mainly referring to a convenient built-in way to view the existing Created and Last Modified date/time directly within the note, without needing additional Properties, Templates, or plugins.

I also feel this is a valuable basic convenience, as this information is commonly available in note-taking applications. While the suggested workaround can be useful, having direct native access would be simpler and especially more convenient on mobile.

I hope this can still be considered as a future improvement.

Thanks again for the helpful explanation.