SharePoint Document Issues

How to Fix Incorrect SharePoint News Post Date (January 1, 1)

Adam Davis Oct 10, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to correct a SharePoint news post publication date that is displaying an erroneous placeholder date, causing the post to appear in the wrong order.

How to Fix an Incorrect SharePoint News Post Date

Product: Microsoft SharePoint
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Publishing or managing a news post within a SharePoint Site Pages library.
Observed behavior: The published news post incorrectly displays its date as "January 1, 1" instead of the actual publication date, shifting its chronological position in the news web part.

Before you start

Ensure you have the PnP PowerShell module installed on your computer and verify that you possess Site Collection Administrator permissions for the affected SharePoint site before running any scripts.

Solution 1Recommended

Update the FirstPublishedDate Field Using PnP PowerShell

The most effective and permanent way to fix the date bug is by updating the read-only FirstPublishedDate property via a PnP PowerShell script.

Because the FirstPublishedDate field is read-only in the standard SharePoint user interface, it cannot be edited manually from the page properties. Using PnP PowerShell allows you to bypass this limitation and inject the correct timestamp.

Open PowerShell

Launch the PowerShell application on your computer with Administrator privileges.

Connect to your SharePoint site

Run the command 'Connect-PnPOnline -Url [YourSiteURL] -Interactive', replacing [YourSiteURL] with the actual URL of your SharePoint site, and sign in.

Find the Page ID

Navigate to your SharePoint 'Site Pages' library, locate the affected news post, and note its unique Item ID.

Run the Update Command

Execute the command 'Set-PnPListItem -List "Site Pages" -Identity [PageID] -Values @{"FirstPublishedDate"="2024-03-14T12:00:00Z"}'. Be sure to replace [PageID] with your specific ID and use the correct ISO 8601 formatted date.

Update the FirstPublishedDate Field Using PnP PowerShell

Date Format Requirement: PowerShell requires strict ISO date formatting (e.g., YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ). Standard formats like '2024-03-14' may fail to process.

Solution 2

Manually Arrange News Posts in the Web Part (Workaround)

If you lack PowerShell access or permissions, you can manually override the display order of the news web part to temporarily fix the post's visibility.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my SharePoint news post date show as January 1, 1?

This is caused by a known SharePoint bug where the 'FirstPublishedDate' field fails to update correctly in the background upon publication. Because the system lacks a valid date, it defaults to the absolute minimum calendar value (January 1, 1).

Can I edit the FirstPublishedDate directly from the SharePoint user interface?

No, the FirstPublishedDate field is completely read-only within the standard SharePoint list and page properties interface. It can only be modified programmatically using administrative tools like PnP PowerShell.

What is the correct date format for updating SharePoint list items in PowerShell?

When updating date fields like FirstPublishedDate via PowerShell, you must use the strict ISO 8601 date format (for example, '2024-03-14T12:00:00Z'). Using standard shorthand dates will often result in a failure to update.

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