MS, SP Search - OOTB Last modified date filter default wrong in all tenant site collections already created and in new once

[jankoschoettl]

While working on a client project I discovered an issue with SP search properties which is also impacting MS search in all existing and new created site collections.

Problem description.

When using MS search or SP search (PnP Search webarts) for document search, the date modified used for filtering and for showing in pnp columns does not reflect the actual modification date.

For documents (word) the last modification date from the document is used and not the actual date, when the document was modified in SharePoint. Means in cases, when the documnt is not edited, but metadata from the document gets edited in Sharepoint, the modification date is not taken into consideration, what I personally see as an big defect.

The problem originates from a not updated mapping in Sharepoint search schema for the site templates used in all tenants.

For date modified or last modified the ootb internal managed property LastModifiedTime is used which has an outdated order of collecting the values for the field:

As seen in the screenshot the LastModifiedTime is the first one to take, which means he always collects the date when the document itself was updated and not when it was updated in Sharepoint. The configuration should be changed to ows_modified first, as this would reflect all changes, also the once to metadata in Sharepoint.

At the moment default search pages in SharePoint reflect all the wrong behavior.

For further questions I am available.

[m365-agent-toolkit-assistant]

👋 Hi jankoschoettl,

Thank you for reporting this issue. Here is an AI-generated initial response:

Classification: By design — the reported date difference is consistent with the documented default LastModifiedTime mapping, rather than evidence that the mapping is broken.

• You report that a metadata-only edit changes SharePoint’s Modified date but not the date shown by search. Microsoft documents LastModifiedTime with LastSavedDateTime first; mapping order can determine the indexed value. This does not verify the behavior in every tenant.
• SharePoint and Microsoft Search in SharePoint use the same index. Microsoft advises against reordering mappings on existing managed properties, because other Microsoft 365 experiences may depend on them.

What to do now:

1. For one affected Word file, compare the library’s Modified value, the file’s saved date, and indexed LastModifiedTime after recrawling.
2. For a custom PnP view, test mapping ows_Modified to an unused date managed property and reindex the library. Don’t change the default mapping tenant-wide without Microsoft guidance.
3. If the built-in result is unexpected, provide those values and a minimal reproduction to Microsoft support.

Useful links:

• No sufficiently relevant related issue found in the searched repos.
• SharePoint search schema and mapping precautions
• Microsoft Search’s modified-date display
• SharePoint search property-query guidance

---

Note: AI-generated guidance may be incomplete or incorrect. Please verify suggestions before applying them.

[jankoschoettl]

I tested it the built in result and it reflects my test. If i upload a document which was last modified (last modified date in document) in nov 2024 and i change metadata later, the document still shows nov 2024 as last modification date in MS search. SP versioning and library show the correct date. I reindexed and tried it also on other tenants, same behavior.

[Ashlesha-MSFT]

Hi jankoschoettl, thanks for the additional testing.

It seems this issue may be outside the scope of this repository, since the behavior also occurs in the native SharePoint/Microsoft Search experience and appears related to the OOTB LastModifiedTime mapping. However, we’ll check with the engineering team whether this type of issue can be addressed by the team.

In the meantime, could you please share the minimal repro steps, including how you created the test document, changed only the SharePoint metadata, reindexed it, and verified the different modification dates?

This will help us validate the scenario and discuss it with engineering.

[wobba]

Hi, this is expected and known behavior since SharePoint 2013.

Semantically the last modified date of a document is the metadata it has. If I author a document/pdf 01-01-2011 and you upload it to SharePoint today. Was it last modified in 2011 or in 2026? You can change the order of the cp mapping or remove the doc metadata one if you want different behavior.

It's a bit analog to the modifer/author which I write about in https://www.techmikael.com/2024/01/demystifying-author-properties-on-files.html. For dates, you can pick the first date of ModifierDates if populated, as this always reflect the last modification date in the SharePoint column.

[jankoschoettl]

Hi Mikael,

nice to read you ;-) and of course SP 2013 had all the then new things and it works still good. Thx also for countless good advices and articles, still working also with pnp search.

I agree with you that when I upload a doc that last modified is 2011. But when I change relevant metadata on this document like a stage, status, etc., this is not reflected in search also not in MS search as it seems that it use lastmodfiedtime for date modified.

I know I can change the order on tenant or site collection, but does it really break something, i guess no. MS does not recommend it? or YES?

So MS is not considering to change this I guess as it will disappear into MS search sometime.

I decided to do it on site collection level and use a refinabledate, just with different order and a refinablestring for editor as the ootb editor is not refinable and sortable, i need it as column in result and filter.

Do not ask why customers do not follow recommendations to implement nice looking adaptive cards. They want tables with columns in results to scroll horizontally :-).