Modified date in File Explorer CHANGES even if I am just HOVERING over the date and have not opened the document

I can see there are solutions to fix, but I cannot go and change hundreds of documents manually. I never experienced this problem in nearly 30 years of using Word and Excel. It started last fall or slightly earlier when I simply opened and closed a file, but made no changes at all. Today is the first time I noticed the change when just hovering. I’ve been looking at ways to fix but have yet to find anything.