DateTime formats in C#

The example below shows how to obtain the date and time as a string in different formats.

// Create a DateTime object for 15th January 2023, 08:45:20:500
var dt = new DateTime(2023, 1, 15, 8, 45, 20, 500);

// Various formats
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("MM/dd/yy")); // 01/15/23
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy")); // 01/15/2023
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("dd/MM/yy")); // 15/01/23
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("dd-MM-yy")); // 15-01-23
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("ddd, dd MMM yyyy")); // Sun, 15 Jan 2023
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yy")); // Sunday, 15 January 23
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm")); // Sunday, 15 January 2023 08:45
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("MM/dd/yy HH:mm")); // 01/15/23 08:45
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm tt")); // 01/15/2023 08:45 AM
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy H:mm t")); // 01/15/2023 8:45 A
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy H:mm:ss")); // 01/15/2023 8:45:20
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("MMM dd")); // Jan 15
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("MM-dd-yyyyTHH:mm:ss.fff")); // 01-15-2023T08:45:20.500
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("MM-dd-yyyy g")); // 01-15-2023 A.D.
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("HH:mm")); // 08:45
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("hh:mm tt")); // 08:45 AM
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("HH:mm:ss")); // 08:45:20
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("'Full DateTime:' MM-dd-yyyyTHH:mm:ss")); // Full DateTime: 01-15-2023T08:45:20

Custom Date Format Specifiers

You can combine one or more of the following format specifiers in the ToString() method to get the date string in the desired format.

The following example showcases all the format specifiers from the table above.

// Create a DateTime object for 12th March 2022, 14:25:50:120
var dt = new DateTime(2022, 3, 12, 14, 25, 50, 120);

// Day formats
Console.WriteLine("\"d\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("d")); // 3/12/2022
Console.WriteLine("\"d/M/yy\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("d/M/yy")); // 3/12/22
Console.WriteLine("\"dd\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("dd")); // 12
Console.WriteLine("\"ddd\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("ddd")); // Sat
Console.WriteLine("\"dddd\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("dddd")); // Saturday

// Month formats
Console.WriteLine("\"M\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("M")); // 3
Console.WriteLine("\"d/M/yy\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("d/M/yy")); // 3/12/22
Console.WriteLine("\"MM\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("MM")); // 03
Console.WriteLine("\"MMM\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("MMM")); // Mar
Console.WriteLine("\"MMMM\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("MMMM")); // March

// Year formats
Console.WriteLine("\"y\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("y")); // 3/22
Console.WriteLine("\"yy\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("yy")); // 22
Console.WriteLine("\"yyy\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("yyy")); // 2022
Console.WriteLine("\"yyyy\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("yyyy")); // 2022
Console.WriteLine("\"yyyyy\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("yyyyy")); // 02022

// Hour formats
Console.WriteLine("\"MM/dd/yy h\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("MM/dd/yy h")); // 03/12/22 2
Console.WriteLine("\"hh\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("hh")); // 02
Console.WriteLine("\"MM/dd/yy H\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("MM/dd/yy H")); // 03/12/22 14
Console.WriteLine("\"HH\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("HH")); // 14

// Minute formats
Console.WriteLine("\"m\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("m")); // 25
Console.WriteLine("\"mm\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("mm")); // 25
Console.WriteLine("\"h:m\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("h:m")); // 2:25
Console.WriteLine("\"hh:mm\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("hh:mm")); // 02:25

// Second formats
Console.WriteLine("\"s\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("s")); // 2022-03-12T14:25:50
Console.WriteLine("\"ss\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("ss")); // 50

// AM/PM
Console.WriteLine("\"hh:mm t\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("hh:mm t")); // 02:25 PM
Console.WriteLine("\"hh:mm tt\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("hh:mm tt")); // 02:25 PM

// Timezone formats
Console.WriteLine("\"MM/dd/yy K\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("MM/dd/yy K")); // 03/12/22 -07:00
Console.WriteLine("\"MM/dd/yy z\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("MM/dd/yy z")); // 03/12/22 -7
Console.WriteLine("\"zz\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("zz")); // -07
Console.WriteLine("\"zzz\" -> {0}", dt.ToString("zzz")); // -07:00

In this example, the DateTime is set to March 12, 2022, at 14:25:50.120. The various format specifiers are applied to display the date and time in different ways, including day, month, year, hour, minute, second, AM/PM, and timezone formats.