#metadata

A plain cp gives every copy a fresh timestamp and the invoking user's permissions; -p and -a are the forgotten flags that keep the originals faithful.

The forgotten Shell.Application GetDetailsOf trick lists every property Explorer shows in file Properties > Details, from the command line.

The three NTFS timestamps and how to read them all in one line of PowerShell.

Shift LastWriteTime/CreationTime on a whole folder of photos by any offset with DateTime arithmetic.

Timestamps are writable properties — set LastWriteTime or CreationTime on (Get-Item file) directly.

Read length, pixel dimensions, and codecs of any video file from Spotlight metadata.

Read every metadata tag inside a photo, then delete sensitive fields like GPS coordinates before you share the file.

Fix a video's title, artist and comment tags in seconds by remuxing with -metadata and -c copy — no re-encoding.

Use kMDItem attributes to search file metadata the Spotlight UI can't express, faster than find ever will.

Write the `com.apple.metadata:_kMDItemUserTags` extended attribute used by Finder labels.

Query pixel size, color space, DPI, and format of any image from Terminal — no Preview needed.

Instead of the better-known xattr -c (clear everything), the -d flag surgically removes one named attribute such as com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms, the record of where a downloaded file came from.