DateTime Format In C# (with examples)

Last updated on April 22nd, 2023 at 10:13 pm

If you are working with date and time values in C#, then it’s important to understand the DateTime format in C#. DateTime is a built-in class in C# representing a date and time value. In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about the DateTime format in C#, including different formats and examples.

C# DateTime Format

C# DateTime format is a set of codes that represents the date and time in a specific format. We can use these formats with the ToString() method to convert the DateTime object into a string. 

The most commonly used format is “d”, which represents the short date pattern. The following code snippet shows an example of how to use this format:

DateTime now = DateTime.Now;
string shortDateFormat = now.ToString("d");
Console.WriteLine("Short Date Format: " + shortDateFormat);

Output: Short Date Format: 4/15/2023

The following are some of the standard DateTime formats in C#:

DateTime Formats using ToString() method

Here is an example of how to use the ToString() method in C# to format a DateTime value:

        // Create a DateTime object
        DateTime myDate = new DateTime(2023, 4, 15, 12, 30, 0, 0);

        // Format the DateTime value using various standard format strings
        Console.WriteLine(myDate.ToString("d")); // 4/15/2023
        Console.WriteLine(myDate.ToString("D")); // Saturday, April 15, 2023
        Console.WriteLine(myDate.ToString("t")); // 12:30 PM
        Console.WriteLine(myDate.ToString("T")); // 12:30:00 PM
        Console.WriteLine(myDate.ToString("f")); // Saturday, April 15, 2023 12:30 PM
        Console.WriteLine(myDate.ToString("F")); // Saturday, April 15, 2023 12:30:00 PM
        Console.WriteLine(myDate.ToString("g")); // 4/15/2023 12:30 PM
        Console.WriteLine(myDate.ToString("G")); // 4/15/2023 12:30:00 PM
        Console.WriteLine(myDate.ToString("M")); // April 15
        Console.WriteLine(myDate.ToString("R")); // Sat, 15 Apr 2023 12:30:00 GMT
        Console.WriteLine(myDate.ToString("s")); // 2023-04-15T12:30:00
        Console.WriteLine(myDate.ToString("u")); // 2023-04-15 12:30:00Z
        Console.WriteLine(myDate.ToString("U")); // Saturday, April 15, 2023 7:00:00 PM
        Console.WriteLine(myDate.ToString("Y")); // April, 2023

Output:

Custom DateTime formatting

When you want to display a date and time in a specific way that is not a standard pre-defined format, you can use a custom format string.

This format string is made up of special codes that tell the computer how to display the date and time.
Anything that is not a standard date and time format string is interpreted as a custom format string. These special codes are called format specifiers, allowing you to control the exact appearance of the date and time.

Here is an example of using custom date format specifiers with DateTime values:

// Customt date and time formatting
//DateTime currentDate = DateTime.Now;
DateTime currentDate = new DateTime(2023, 4, 15, 12, 30, 0, 0);

Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("MM/dd/yy")); // 04/15/23
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy")); // 04/15/2023
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("dd/MM/yy")); // 15/04/23
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("dd-MM-yy")); // 15-04-23
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("ddd, dd MMM yyyy")); // Sat, 15 Apr 2023
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yy")); // Saturday, 15 April 23
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm")); // Saturday, 15 April 2023 12:30
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("MM/dd/yy HH:mm")); // 04/15/23 12:30
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm tt")); // 04/15/2023 12:30 PM
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy H:mm t")); // 04/15/2023 12:30 P
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy H:mm:ss")); // 04/15/2023 12:30:00
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("MMM dd")); // Apr 15
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("MM-dd-yyyyTHH:mm:ss.fff")); // 04-15-2023T12:30:00.000
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("MM-dd-yyyy g")); // 04-15-2023 A.D.
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("HH:mm")); // 12:30
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("hh:mm tt")); // 12:30 PM
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("HH:mm:ss")); // 12:30:00
Console.WriteLine(currentDate.ToString("'Full DateTime:' MM-dd-yyyyTHH:mm:ss")); // Full DateTime: 04-15-2023T12:30:00

C# DateTime Formatting Using String Interpolation

Here is an example of how to use String Interpolation in C# to format a DateTime value:

// Get the current date and time
DateTime mydate = DateTime.Now;

// Day formats
Console.WriteLine($"\"d\" -> {mydate:d}");  // "d" -> 4/15/2023
Console.WriteLine($"\"d/M/yy\" -> {mydate:d/M/yy}"); // "d/M/yy" -> 15/4/23
Console.WriteLine($"\"dd\" -> {mydate:dd}"); // "dd" -> 15
Console.WriteLine($"\"ddd\" -> {mydate:ddd}"); // "ddd" -> Sat
Console.WriteLine($"\"dddd\" -> {mydate:dddd}"); // "dddd" -> Saturday

// Month formats
Console.WriteLine($"\"M\" -> {mydate:M}"); // "M" -> April 15
Console.WriteLine($"\"d/M/yy\" -> {mydate:d/M/yy}"); // "d/M/yy" -> 15/4/23
Console.WriteLine($"\"MM\" -> {mydate:MM}"); // "MM" -> 04
Console.WriteLine($"\"MMM\" -> {mydate:MMM}"); // "MMM" -> Apr
Console.WriteLine($"\"MMMM\" -> {mydate:MMMM}"); // "MMMM" -> April

// Year formats
Console.WriteLine($"\"y\" -> {mydate:y}"); // "y" -> April 2023
Console.WriteLine($"\"yy\" -> {mydate:yy}"); // "yy" -> 23
Console.WriteLine($"\"yyy\" -> {mydate:yyy}"); // "yyy" -> 2023
Console.WriteLine($"\"yyyy\" -> {mydate:yyyy}"); // "yyyy" -> 2023
Console.WriteLine($"\"yyyyy\" -> {mydate:yyyyy}"); // "yyyyy" -> 02023

// Hour formats
Console.WriteLine($"\"mm/dd/yy h\" -> {mydate:MM/dd/yy h}"); // "mm/dd/yy h" -> 04/15/23 10
Console.WriteLine($"\"hh\" -> {mydate:hh}"); // "hh" -> 10
Console.WriteLine($"\"mm/dd/yy H\" -> {mydate:MM/dd/yy H}"); // "mm/dd/yy H" -> 04/15/23 22
Console.WriteLine($"\"HH\" -> {mydate:HH}"); // "HH" -> 22

// Minute formats
Console.WriteLine($"\"m\" -> {mydate:m}"); // "m" -> 50April 15
Console.WriteLine($"\"mm\" -> {mydate:mm}"); // "mm" -> 27
Console.WriteLine($"\"h:m\" -> {mydate:h:m}"); // "h:m" -> 10:27
Console.WriteLine($"\"hh:mm\" -> {mydate:hh:mm}"); // "hh:mm" -> 10:27

// Second formats
Console.WriteLine($"\"s\" -> {mydate:s}"); // "s" -> 2023-04-15T22:27:15
Console.WriteLine($"\"ss\" -> {mydate:ss}"); // "ss" -> 15

// AM/PM
Console.WriteLine($"\"hh:mm t\" -> {mydate:hh:mm t}"); // "hh:mm t" -> 10:27 P
Console.WriteLine($"\"hh:mm tt\" -> {mydate:hh:mm tt}"); // "hh:mm tt" -> 10:27 PM

//timezone formats
Console.WriteLine($"\"mm/dd/yy K\" -> {mydate:MM/dd/yy K}"); "mm/dd/yy K" -> 04/15/23 +05:30
Console.WriteLine($"\"mm/dd/yy z\" -> {mydate:MM/dd/yy z}"); "mm/dd/yy z" -> 04/15/23 +5
Console.WriteLine($"\"zz\" -> {mydate:zz}"); "zz" -> +05
Console.WriteLine($"\"zzz\" -> {mydate:zzz}"); "zzz" -> +05:30

Convert Timestamp to Date and Date to Timestamp

Here is an example to convert date to timestamp and timestamp to date in C#

      // Example: DateTime to Unix Timestamp and Vice versa.

     // Converting Date to Timestamp
        DateTime currentTime = DateTime.Now;
        long timestamp = (long)(currentTime.Subtract(new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0))).TotalSeconds;
        Console.WriteLine($"Converting DateTime {currentTime} to timestamp {timestamp}");

      // Converting Timestamp to Date
        DateTime dateTime = new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0).AddSeconds(timestamp);
        Console.WriteLine($"Converting timestamp {timestamp} to Datetime: {dateTime}");

Output:
Converting DateTime 4/16/2023 12:44:42 AM to timestamp 1681605882
Converting timestamp 1681605882 to Datetime: 4/16/2023 12:44:42 AM

FAQs

Check this Online tool to Convert timestamp to date and date to timestamp 

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Shekh Ali

Meet Sheikh Ali, a skilled Software engineer and passionate a blogger. He enjoys sharing his expertise in C#, Java, SQL, Design Patterns, and other related topics through his writing. When he's not coding, Sheikh Ali can often indulge in his passions for reading books and fitness training.

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