# Does Android store file logs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 9, 2019, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-android-store-file-logs/838403 "2019-08-09T09:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-android-store-file-logs/838403/1 "2019-08-09T09:37:57Z")
My favorite camera app ([Open Camera](http://opencamera.org.uk/)) names photos and videos either IMG or VID followed by year, month, day, hour, minute, and second that it was captured. (For example VID\_20190808\_221943.mp4.) I find it convenient to keep the date portion of the names, changing only the IMG/VID part to something more descriptive. Earlier I was editing a file which was automatically saved with something appended to the front of the file name by the editing software. Satisfied with the edit, I deleted the original. Only then did I notice that the new file name lopped off the hour/minute/second part of the name and left only the year/month/day part. So I have a file named just “VID\_20190808.mp4.” It annoys me having that one file with the naming scheme broken. So I’m hoping that there is a log somewhere listing files created or deleted. Any tips? (To be clear, I don’t need to undelete the original file, I just want to know the original file’s name.) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-android-store-file-logs/838403/2 "2019-08-09T11:58:36Z")
I know this doesn’t answer your question, but do you actually need the original timestamp? Can’t you just rename the file with a made-up timestamp? If you have other pictures taken around the same time, you should be able to get a pretty close approximation from those. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-android-store-file-logs/838403/3 "2019-08-09T12:11:22Z")
It’s possible that your pictures get synchronised to Google Photos and/or your phone maker’s Cloud offering (Samsung Cloud, etc.). If so, maybe you can get a precise timestamp (or the original filename) from there. Other strategies: - If you’re storing your pictures to external storage (microSD card), there is software that can recover deleted files. (Unless you’ve taken new pictures since you deleted the file.) - If you have a location-tracking app such as Google location sharing, you can determine when you were at that particular location. This is approximate. - If you sent the picture to someone else in a text message, well, you have a timestamp on that. The original filename is probably there, too. - If the picture happens to show a clock or a watch, look at the content. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-android-store-file-logs/838403/4 "2019-08-09T12:16:29Z")
Look at the timestamp of the file if you haven’t modified the contents. That will be down to the second. Use a program like File Commander to look at files and their properties if you don’t already have something similar installed. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-android-store-file-logs/838403/5 "2019-08-09T12:24:02Z")
Also: there may be some metadata in the edited file showing the exact time of the snapshot. EXIF has a tag called “DateTimeOriginal”. That depends on whether your editing software has preserved it.