How to convert string to datetime in SQL

To convert a string to a DATETIME type in SQL, you can use the CAST() or CONVERT() functions.

How to use CAST() to convert String to DateTime in SQL?

The CAST() function is a standard SQL method for converting one data type to another.

SELECT CAST('2025-10-16 11:30:00' AS DATETIME)--2025-10-16 11:30:00.000

In SQL, you can use the CONVERT() function to convert a string to a DATETIME type. The syntax for CONVERT() is:

CONVERT(data_type, expression, style)

For example:

SELECT CONVERT(DATETIME, '2025-10-16 11:30:00', 120)--2025-10-16 11:30:00.000

Here, 120 is the style for the YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS format, which is commonly used for DATETIME values.

If your string is in a different format, you can adjust the style.

For example, if the string is in the format 'MM/DD/YYYY HH:MI:SS', you can use style 101:

SELECT CONVERT(DATETIME, '11/26/2025 11:30:00', 101)--2025-11-26 11:30:00.000