C# DateTime Format

Date and Time in C# are handled by the DateTime class in C#, which 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

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

using System;  
  
namespace DateTimeFormatInCSharpSample  
{  
    class Program  
    {  
        static void Main(string[] args)  
        {  
            // Get current DateTime. It can be any DateTime object in your code.  
            DateTime aDate = DateTime.Now;  
  
            // Format Datetime in different formats and display them  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm:ss"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm tt"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy H:mm"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy h:mm tt"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("MMMM dd"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("yyyy’-‘MM’-‘dd’T’HH’:’mm’:’ss.fffffffK"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("ddd, dd MMM yyy HH’:’mm’:’ss ‘GMT’"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("yyyy’-‘MM’-‘dd’T’HH’:’mm’:’ss"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("HH:mm"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("hh:mm tt"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("H:mm"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("h:mm tt"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("HH:mm:ss"));  
            Console.WriteLine(aDate.ToString("yyyy MMMM"));  
  
            Console.ReadKey();  
        }  
    }  
}

Above code sample generates the following output.

CSharp DateTime

Here is a detailed tutorial on DateTime and formatting: Working with DateTime In C#

Learn about DateTime Class in C#

Calculate the Date Difference in C#