Disclosed implementations include systems and methods to efficiently determine a block or blocks of a smart file that have changed, without accessing the block or blocks. For example, the disclosed implementations generate and maintain a nested hash value tree that includes block hash values for at least some blocks of a smart file, and element hash values for at least some elements of the blocks of the smart file for which a block hash value is maintained. The nested hash value tree may be traversed to determine elements and/or blocks of the smart file that have changed without having to access or process the smart file. Still further, the elements and/or blocks of the smart file that have changed may be processed without processing other elements and/or blocks of the smart file to determine the actual change(s) to the smart file.