How to Retrieve a File’s Creation Time in PHP with filectime()

PHP provides the filectime() function to obtain a file’s creation time as a Unix timestamp.

The function returns the number of seconds since Jan 1 1970 UTC, which can be formatted with date(). Below is a complete example that checks for a file, retrieves its creation timestamp, formats it, and outputs the result.

<?php
$file = 'example.txt';
if (file_exists($file)) {
    $timestamp = filectime($file);
    $create_time = date('Y-m-d H:i:s', $timestamp);
    echo "File creation time is: $create_time";
} else {
    echo "File does not exist!";
}
?>

The script first defines the filename, uses file_exists() to verify its presence, then calls filectime() to get the timestamp, converts it with date(), and finally echoes the formatted creation time.

If the file is missing, the else block handles the situation by printing a not‑found message.

Besides filectime(), PHP also offers filemtime() for modification time and fileatime() for access time, allowing flexible handling of file‑related timestamps in web applications.

In summary, filectime() is a practical function for retrieving a file’s creation time, helping developers improve efficiency and quality when working with file metadata.