C# DateTime Format

 Date and Time in C# are handled by DateTime class in C# that provides properties and methods to format dates in different datetime formats. This article blog explains how to work with date and time format in C#. 

The following table describes various C# DateTime formats and their results. Here we see all the patterns of the C# DateTime, format, and results.

 

Format	Result
DateTime.Now.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy")	05/29/2015
DateTime.Now.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy")	Friday, 29 May 2015
DateTime.Now.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy")	Friday, 29 May 2015 05:50
DateTime.Now.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy")	Friday, 29 May 2015 05:50 AM
DateTime.Now.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy")	Friday, 29 May 2015 5:50
DateTime.Now.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy")	Friday, 29 May 2015 5:50 AM
DateTime.Now.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm:ss")	Friday, 29 May 2015 05:50:06
DateTime.Now.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm")	05/29/2015 05:50
DateTime.Now.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm tt")	05/29/2015 05:50 AM
DateTime.Now.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy H:mm")	05/29/2015 5:50
DateTime.Now.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy h:mm tt")	05/29/2015 5:50 AM
DateTime.Now.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss")	05/29/2015 05:50:06
DateTime.Now.ToString("MMMM dd")	May 29
DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy’-‘MM’-‘dd’T’HH’:’mm’:’ss.fffffffK")	2015-05-16T05:50:06.7199222-04:00
DateTime.Now.ToString("ddd, dd MMM yyy HH’:’mm’:’ss ‘GMT’")	Fri, 16 May 2015 05:50:06 GMT
DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy’-‘MM’-‘dd’T’HH’:’mm’:’ss")	2015-05-16T05:50:06
DateTime.Now.ToString("HH:mm")	05:50
DateTime.Now.ToString("hh:mm tt")	05:50 AM
DateTime.Now.ToString("H:mm")	5:50
DateTime.Now.ToString("h:mm tt")	5:50 AM
DateTime.Now.ToString("HH:mm:ss")	05:50:06
DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy MMMM")	2015 May

1. d -> Represents the day of the month as a number from 1 through 31.
   
   
2. dd -> Represents the day of the month as a number from 01 through 31.
   
   
3. ddd-> Represents the abbreviated name of the day (Mon, Tues, Wed, etc).
   
   
4. dddd-> Represents the full name of the day (Monday, Tuesday, etc).
   
   
5. h-> 12-hour clock hour (e.g. 4).
   
   
6. hh-> 12-hour clock, with a leading 0 (e.g. 06)
   
   
7. H-> 24-hour clock hour (e.g. 15)
   
   
8. HH-> 24-hour clock hour, with a leading 0 (e.g. 22)
   
   
9. m-> Minutes
   
   
10. mm-> Minutes with a leading zero
    
    
11. M-> Month number(eg.3)
    
    
12. MM-> Month number with leading zero(eg.04)
    
    
13. MMM-> Abbreviated Month Name (e.g. Dec)
    
    
14. MMMM-> Full month name (e.g. December)
    
    
15. s-> Seconds
    
    
16. ss-> Seconds with leading zero
    
    
17. t-> Abbreviated AM / PM (e.g. A or P)
    
    
18. tt-> AM / PM (e.g. AM or PM
    
    
19. y-> Year, no leading zero (e.g. 2015 would be 15)
    
    
20. yy-> Year, leading zero (e.g. 2015 would be 015)
    
    
21. yyy-> Year, (e.g. 2015)
    
    
22. yyyy-> Year, (e.g. 2015)
    
    
23. K-> Represents the time zone information of a date and time value (e.g. +05:00)
    
    
24. z-> With DateTime values represents the signed offset of the local operating system's time zone from
    
    Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), measured in hours. (e.g. +6)
    
    
25. zz-> As z, but with leading zero (e.g. +06)
    
    
26. zzz-> With DateTime values represents the signed offset of the local operating system's time zone from UTC, measured in hours and minutes. (e.g. +06:00)
    
    
27. f-> Represents the most significant digit of the seconds' fraction; that is, it represents the tenths of a second in a date and time value.
    
    
28. ff-> Represents the two most significant digits of the seconds' fraction in date and time
    
    
29. fff-> Represents the three most significant digits of the seconds' fraction; that is, it represents the milliseconds in a date and time value.
    
    
30. ffff-> Represents the four most significant digits of the seconds' fraction; that is, it represents the ten-thousandths of a second in a date and time value. While it is possible to display the ten-thousandths of a second component of a time value, that value may not be meaningful.
    
    
31. fffff-> Represents the five most significant digits of the seconds' fraction; that is, it represents the hundred-thousandths of a second in a date and time value.
    
    
32. ffffff-> Represents the six most significant digits of the seconds' fraction; that is, it represents the millionths of a second in a date and time value.
    
    
33. fffffff-> Represents the seven most significant digits of the second's fraction; that is, it represents the ten-millionths of a second in a date and time value.
    

Here is a complete C# code sample that uses these formats. 

1. using System;  
2.   
3. namespace DateTimeFormatInCSharpSample  
4. {  
5.     class Program  
6.     {  
7.         static void Main(string[] args)  
8.         {  
9.             // Get current DateTime. It can be any DateTime object in your code.  
10.             DateTime aDate = DateTime.Now;  
11.   
12.             // Format Datetime in different formats and display them  
13.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy"));  
14.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy"));  
15.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy"));  
16.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy"));  
17.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy"));  
18.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy"));  
19.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm:ss"));  
20.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm"));  
21.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm tt"));  
22.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy H:mm"));  
23.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy h:mm tt"));  
24.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss"));  
25.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("MMMM dd"));  
26.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("yyyy’-‘MM’-‘dd’T’HH’:’mm’:’ss.fffffffK"));  
27.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("ddd, dd MMM yyy HH’:’mm’:’ss ‘GMT’"));  
28.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("yyyy’-‘MM’-‘dd’T’HH’:’mm’:’ss"));  
29.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("HH:mm"));  
30.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("hh:mm tt"));  
31.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("H:mm"));  
32.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("h:mm tt"));  
33.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("HH:mm:ss"));  
34.             Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("yyyy MMMM"));  
35.   
36.             Console.ReadKey();  
37.         }  
38.     }  
39. }  

Above code sample generates the following output.