524
votes

I have a script that prints the current date and time in JavaScript, but the DATE is always wrong. Here is the code:

var currentdate = new Date();
var datetime = "Last Sync: " + currentdate.getDay() + "/" + currentdate.getMonth() 
+ "/" + currentdate.getFullYear() + " @ " 
+ currentdate.getHours() + ":" 
+ currentdate.getMinutes() + ":" + currentdate.getSeconds();

It should print 18/04/2012 15:07:33 and prints 3/3/2012 15:07:33

28
In general, you should endeavor to read the documentation of the APIs you are using. Here is some documentation for Javascript Date objects: developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/…. Everything you need to know to fix your problem can been found there. - Steven Oxley
possible duplicate of How to get current date in JavaScript - Jon
@Ricardo: MDN is an excellent reference for this and many other matters. Please use it. - Jon
People always complain about certain questions but there are very few questions on SO that couldn't be answered by reading documentation. I love this site because it has concise answers and examples of how to do what I'm trying to do, exactly like this question does. - Chris Sharp
when people google they get here instead of the api doc, is it so bad to share the knowledge without making people feed bad ? - Mauricio Gracia Gutierrez

28 Answers

657
votes

.getMonth() returns a zero-based number so to get the correct month you need to add 1, so calling .getMonth() in may will return 4 and not 5.

So in your code we can use currentdate.getMonth()+1 to output the correct value. In addition:

  • .getDate() returns the day of the month <- this is the one you want
  • .getDay() is a separate method of the Date object which will return an integer representing the current day of the week (0-6) 0 == Sunday etc

so your code should look like this:

var currentdate = new Date(); 
var datetime = "Last Sync: " + currentdate.getDate() + "/"
                + (currentdate.getMonth()+1)  + "/" 
                + currentdate.getFullYear() + " @ "  
                + currentdate.getHours() + ":"  
                + currentdate.getMinutes() + ":" 
                + currentdate.getSeconds();

JavaScript Date instances inherit from Date.prototype. You can modify the constructor's prototype object to affect properties and methods inherited by JavaScript Date instances

You can make use of the Date prototype object to create a new method which will return today's date and time. These new methods or properties will be inherited by all instances of the Date object thus making it especially useful if you need to re-use this functionality.

// For todays date;
Date.prototype.today = function () { 
    return ((this.getDate() < 10)?"0":"") + this.getDate() +"/"+(((this.getMonth()+1) < 10)?"0":"") + (this.getMonth()+1) +"/"+ this.getFullYear();
}

// For the time now
Date.prototype.timeNow = function () {
     return ((this.getHours() < 10)?"0":"") + this.getHours() +":"+ ((this.getMinutes() < 10)?"0":"") + this.getMinutes() +":"+ ((this.getSeconds() < 10)?"0":"") + this.getSeconds();
}

You can then simply retrieve the date and time by doing the following:

var newDate = new Date();
var datetime = "LastSync: " + newDate.today() + " @ " + newDate.timeNow();

Or call the method inline so it would simply be -

var datetime = "LastSync: " + new Date().today() + " @ " + new Date().timeNow();
349
votes

To get time and date you should use

    new Date().toLocaleString();

>> "09/08/2014, 2:35:56 AM"

To get only the date you should use

    new Date().toLocaleDateString();

>> "09/08/2014"

To get only the time you should use

    new Date().toLocaleTimeString();

>> "2:35:56 AM"

Or if you just want the time in the format hh:mm without AM/PM for US English

    new Date().toLocaleTimeString('en-US', { hour12: false, 
                                             hour: "numeric", 
                                             minute: "numeric"});
>> "02:35"

or for British English

    new Date().toLocaleTimeString('en-GB', { hour: "numeric", 
                                             minute: "numeric"});

>> "02:35"

Read more here.

73
votes

For true mysql style output use this function below: 2019/02/28 15:33:12

  • If you click the 'Run code snippet' button below
  • It will show you an simple realtime digital clock example
  • The demo will appear below the code snippet.

function getDateTime() {
        var now     = new Date(); 
        var year    = now.getFullYear();
        var month   = now.getMonth()+1; 
        var day     = now.getDate();
        var hour    = now.getHours();
        var minute  = now.getMinutes();
        var second  = now.getSeconds(); 
        if(month.toString().length == 1) {
             month = '0'+month;
        }
        if(day.toString().length == 1) {
             day = '0'+day;
        }   
        if(hour.toString().length == 1) {
             hour = '0'+hour;
        }
        if(minute.toString().length == 1) {
             minute = '0'+minute;
        }
        if(second.toString().length == 1) {
             second = '0'+second;
        }   
        var dateTime = year+'/'+month+'/'+day+' '+hour+':'+minute+':'+second;   
         return dateTime;
    }

    // example usage: realtime clock
    setInterval(function(){
        currentTime = getDateTime();
        document.getElementById("digital-clock").innerHTML = currentTime;
    }, 1000);
<div id="digital-clock"></div>
33
votes

Just use:

var d = new Date();
document.write(d.toLocaleString());
document.write("<br>");
12
votes
var currentdate = new Date();

    var datetime = "Last Sync: " + currentdate.getDate() + "/"+(currentdate.getMonth()+1) 
    + "/" + currentdate.getFullYear() + " @ " 
    + currentdate.getHours() + ":" 
    + currentdate.getMinutes() + ":" + currentdate.getSeconds();

Change .getDay() method to .GetDate() and add one to month, because it counts months from 0.

7
votes

This should do the trick:

function dateToString(date) {
    var month = date.getMonth() + 1;
    var day = date.getDate();
    var dateOfString = (("" + day).length < 2 ? "0" : "") + day + "/";
    dateOfString += (("" + month).length < 2 ? "0" : "") + month + "/";
    dateOfString += date.getFullYear();
    return dateOfString;
}

var currentdate = new Date();
var datetime = "Last Sync: ";
datetime += dateToString(currentdate );
datetime += + currentdate.getHours() + ":"
            + currentdate.getMinutes() + ":"
            + currentdate.getSeconds();
7
votes

Shortest

I develop Steve answer to get exactly what OP need

new Date().toLocaleString().replace(',','')

console.log(new Date().toLocaleString().replace(',',''));
6
votes

Basic JS (good to learn): we use the Date() function and do all that we need to show the date and day in our custom format.

var myDate = new Date();

let daysList = ['Sunday', 'Monday', 'Tuesday', 'Wednesday', 'Thursday', 'Friday', 'Saturday'];
let monthsList = ['Jan', 'Feb', 'Mar', 'Apr', 'May', 'Jun', 'Jul', 'Aug', 'Sep', 'Aug', 'Oct', 'Nov', 'Dec'];


let date = myDate.getDate();
let month = monthsList[myDate.getMonth()];
let year = myDate.getFullYear();
let day = daysList[myDate.getDay()];

let today = `${date} ${month} ${year}, ${day}`;

let amOrPm;
let twelveHours = function (){
    if(myDate.getHours() > 12)
    {
        amOrPm = 'PM';
        let twentyFourHourTime = myDate.getHours();
        let conversion = twentyFourHourTime - 12;
        return `${conversion}`

    }else {
        amOrPm = 'AM';
        return `${myDate.getHours()}`}
};
let hours = twelveHours();
let minutes = myDate.getMinutes();

let currentTime = `${hours}:${minutes} ${amOrPm}`;

console.log(today + ' ' + currentTime);

Node JS (quick & easy): Install the npm pagckage using (npm install date-and-time), then run the below.

let nodeDate = require('date-and-time');
let now = nodeDate.format(new Date(), 'DD-MMMM-YYYY, hh:mm:ss a');
console.log(now);
4
votes

getDay() gets the day of the week. 3 is Wednesday. You want getDate(), that will return 18.

Also getMonth() starts at 0, you need to add 1 to get 4 (April).

DEMO: http://jsfiddle.net/4zVxp/

4
votes

You need to use getDate() to get the date part. The getDay() function returns the day number (Sunday = 0, Monday = 1...), and the getMonth() returns a 0 based index, so you need to increment it by 1.

 var currentdate = new Date(); 

 var datetime = "Last Sync: " + currentdate.getDate() + "/"+  (parseInt(currentdate.getMonth())    + 1)
   + "/" + currentdate.getFullYear() + " @ "  
   + currentdate.getHours() + ":"  
   + currentdate.getMinutes() + ":" + currentdate.getSeconds(); 
4
votes

I have found the simplest way to get current date and time in JavaScript from here - How to get current Date and Time using JavaScript

var today = new Date();
var date = today.getFullYear()+'-'+(today.getMonth()+1)+'-'+today.getDate();
var time = today.getHours() + ":" + today.getMinutes() + ":" + today.getSeconds();
var CurrentDateTime = date+' '+time;
3
votes

get current date and time

var now = new Date(); 
  var datetime = now.getFullYear()+'/'+(now.getMonth()+1)+'/'+now.getDate(); 
  datetime += ' '+now.getHours()+':'+now.getMinutes()+':'+now.getSeconds(); 
3
votes

This question is quite old and the answers are too. Instead of those monstrous functions, we now can use moment.js to get the current date, which actually makes it very easy. All that has to be done is including moment.js in our project and get a well formated date, for example, by:

moment().format("dddd, MMMM Do YYYY, h:mm:ss a");

I think that makes it way easier to handle dates in javascript.

2
votes

.getDay returns day of week. You need .getDate instead. .getMonth returns values from 0 to 11. You'll need to add 1 to the result to get "human" month number.

2
votes
function getTimeStamp() {
       var now = new Date();
       return ((now.getMonth() + 1) + '/' + (now.getDate()) + '/' + now.getFullYear() + " " + now.getHours() + ':'
                     + ((now.getMinutes() < 10) ? ("0" + now.getMinutes()) : (now.getMinutes())) + ':' + ((now.getSeconds() < 10) ? ("0" + now
                     .getSeconds()) : (now.getSeconds())));
}
2
votes

This little code is easy and works everywhere.

<p id="dnt"></p>
<script>
document.getElementById("dnt").innerHTML = Date();
</script>

there is room to design

2
votes
function UniqueDateTime(format='',language='en-US'){
    //returns a meaningful unique number based on current time, and milliseconds, making it virtually unique
    //e.g : 20170428-115833-547
    //allows personal formatting like more usual :YYYYMMDDHHmmSS, or YYYYMMDD_HH:mm:SS
    var dt = new Date();
    var modele="YYYYMMDD-HHmmSS-mss";
    if (format!==''){
      modele=format;
    }
    modele=modele.replace("YYYY",dt.getFullYear());
    modele=modele.replace("MM",(dt.getMonth()+1).toLocaleString(language, {minimumIntegerDigits: 2, useGrouping:false}));
    modele=modele.replace("DD",dt.getDate().toLocaleString(language, {minimumIntegerDigits: 2, useGrouping:false}));
    modele=modele.replace("HH",dt.getHours().toLocaleString(language, {minimumIntegerDigits: 2, useGrouping:false}));
    modele=modele.replace("mm",dt.getMinutes().toLocaleString(language, {minimumIntegerDigits: 2, useGrouping:false}));
    modele=modele.replace("SS",dt.getSeconds().toLocaleString(language, {minimumIntegerDigits: 2, useGrouping:false}));
    modele=modele.replace("mss",dt.getMilliseconds().toLocaleString(language, {minimumIntegerDigits: 3, useGrouping:false}));
    return modele;
}
1
votes
var datetime = new Date().toLocaleString().slice(0,9) +" "+new Date(new Date()).toString().split(' ')[4];
console.log(datetime);
1
votes

I think i am very late to share my answer, but i think it will be worth.

function __getCurrentDateTime(format){
    var dt=new Date(),x,date=[];
    date['d']=dt.getDate();
    date['dd']=dt.getDate()>10?dt.getDate():'0'+dt.getDate();
    date['m']=dt.getMonth()+1;
    date['mm']=(dt.getMonth()+1)>10?(dt.getMonth()+1):'0'+(dt.getMonth()+1);
    date['yyyy']=dt.getFullYear();
    date['yy']=dt.getFullYear().toString().slice(-2);
    date['h']=(dt.getHours()>12?dt.getHours()-12:dt.getHours());
    date['hh']=dt.getHours();
    date['mi']=dt.getMinutes();
    date['mimi']=dt.getMinutes()<10?('0'+dt.getMinutes()):dt.getMinutes();
    date['s']=dt.getSeconds();
    date['ss']=dt.getSeconds()<10?('0'+dt.getSeconds()):dt.getSeconds();
    date['sss']=dt.getMilliseconds();
    date['ampm']=(dt.getHours()>=12?'PM':'AM');
    x=format.toLowerCase();
    x=x.indexOf('dd')!=-1?x.replace(/(dd)/i,date['dd']):x.replace(/(d)/i,date['d']);
    x=x.indexOf('mm')!=-1?x.replace(/(mm)/i,date['mm']):x.replace(/(m)/i,date['m']);
    x=x.indexOf('yyyy')!=-1?x.replace(/(yyyy)/i,date['yyyy']):x.replace(/(yy)/i,date['yy']);
    x=x.indexOf('hh')!=-1?x.replace(/(hh)/i,date['hh']):x.replace(/(h)/i,date['h']);
    x=x.indexOf('mimi')!=-1?x.replace(/(mimi)/i,date['mimi']):x.replace(/(mi)/i,date['mi']);
    if(x.indexOf('sss')!=-1){   x=x.replace(/(sss)/i,date['sss']);  }
    x=x.indexOf('ss')!=-1?x.replace(/(ss)/i,date['ss']):x.replace(/(s)/i,date['s']);
    if(x.indexOf('ampm')!=-1){  x=x.replace(/(ampm)/i,date['ampm']);    }
    return x;
}

console.log(__getCurrentDateTime());  //returns in dd-mm-yyyy HH:MM:SS
console.log(__getCurrentDateTime('dd-mm-yyyy'));    //return in 05-12-2016
console.log(__getCurrentDateTime('dd/mm*yyyy'));    //return in 05/12*2016
console.log(__getCurrentDateTime('hh:mimi:ss'));    //return in 13:05:30

console.log(__getCurrentDateTime('h:mi:ss ampm')); //return in 1:5:30 PM

1
votes

I needed to figure this out for a slate in after effects. Here's what I came up with after taking elements from a few different sources -- Formatting is MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM AM/PM

D = new Date(Date(00));
M = D.getMonth()+1;
H = D.getHours();
Mi = D.getMinutes();

N = "AM"
if (H >= 12)
N = "PM"
if (H > 12)
{
H = H-12
}

amtOfZeroes = 2;
isNeg = false;

if (M < 0)
{
M = Math.abs(M);
isNeg = true;
}
Mo = Math.round(M) + "";
while(Mo.length < amtOfZeroes)
{

Mo = "0" + Mo; 
}
if (isNeg)
Mo = "-" + Mo;

if (H < 0)
{
H = Math.abs(H);
isNeg = true;
}
Ho = Math.round(H) + "";
while(Ho.length < amtOfZeroes)
{
Ho = "0" + Ho; 
}
if (isNeg)
Ho = "-" + Ho;

if (Mi < 0)
{
Mi = Math.abs(Mi);
isNeg = true;
}
Min = Math.round(Mi) + "";
while(Min.length < amtOfZeroes)
{
Min = "0" + Min; 
}
if (isNeg)
Min = "-" + Min;

T = Ho + ":" + (Min)

Mo + "/" + D.getDate() + "/" + D.getFullYear() + "  " + T + " " + N
0
votes
dt= new Date();
alert(dt.toISOString().substring(8,10) + "/" + 
dt.toISOString().substring(5,7)+ "/" + 
dt.toISOString().substring(0,4) + " " + 
dt.toTimeString().substring(0,8))
0
votes
function display_c(){   
    var refresh = 1000; // Refresh rate in milli seconds    
    mytime = setTimeout('display_ct()', refresh)    
}

function display_ct() {

    var strcount    
    var currentdate = new Date();

    document.getElementById('ct').innerHTML = currentdate.toDateString() + " " + currentdate.getHours() + ":" + currentdate.getMinutes() + ":" + currentdate.getSeconds();

    tt = display_c();   
}


id = 'ct'     // Replace in Your id

onload = "display_ct();"     // Type inside a Body Tag
0
votes

My well intended answer is to use this tiny bit of JS: https://github.com/rhroyston/clock-js

clock.now   --> 1462248501241
clock.time  --> 11:08 PM
clock.weekday   --> monday
clock.day   --> 2
clock.month --> may
clock.year  --> 2016
clock.since(1462245888784)  --> 44 minutes
clock.until(1462255888784)  --> 2 hours
clock.what.time(1462245888784)  --> 10:24 PM
clock.what.weekday(1461968554458)   --> friday
clock.what.day('14622458887 84')    --> 2
clock.what.month(1461968554458) --> april
clock.what.year('1461968554458')    --> 2016
clock.what.time()   --> 11:11 PM
clock.what.weekday('14619685abcd')  -->     clock.js error : expected unix timestamp as argument
clock.unit.seconds  --> 1000
clock.unit.minutes  --> 60000
clock.unit.hours    --> 3600000
clock.unit.days --> 86400000
clock.unit.weeks    --> 604800000
clock.unit.months   --> 2628002880
clock.unit.years    --> 31536000000
0
votes

Its simple and superb

 $(document).ready(function () { 
            var fpsOut = document.getElementById('myTime');
            setInterval(function () {
                var d = new Date(); 
                fpsOut.innerHTML = d;
            }, 1000);
        });
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div id="myTime"></div>

please find the below fiddler for the example

http://jsfiddle.net/4zVxp/483/

0
votes

If someone is in search of function

console.log(formatAMPM());
function formatAMPM() {
  var date = new Date();
  var hours = date.getHours();
  var minutes = date.getMinutes();
  var seconds = date.getSeconds();
  var ampm = hours >= 12 ? 'PM' : 'AM';
  hours = hours % 12;
  hours = hours ? hours : 12; // the hour '0' should be '12'
  minutes = minutes < 10 ? '0'+minutes : minutes;
  return strTime = date.getMonth() + '/' + date.getDay()+'/'+date.getFullYear()+' '+ hours + ':' + minutes +':'+ seconds + " " +ampm;
}
0
votes

Here is my work around clock full format with day, date, year and time and make Sure the date of your PC is set to the right date and if you are using PHP make sure in php.ini date.timezone= xx where xx your current timezone

function startTime()
{
    var today=new Date();
    //                   1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10    11  12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33
    var suffixes = ['','st','nd','rd','th','th','th','th','th','th','th','th','th','th','th','th','th','th','th','th','th','st','nd','rd','th','th','th','th','th','th','th','st','nd','rd'];

    var weekday = new Array(7);
    weekday[0] = "Sunday";
    weekday[1] = "Monday";
    weekday[2] = "Tuesday";
    weekday[3] = "Wednesday";
    weekday[4] = "Thursday";
    weekday[5] = "Friday";
    weekday[6] = "Saturday";

    var month = new Array(12);
    month[0] = "January";
    month[1] = "February";
    month[2] = "March";
    month[3] = "April";
    month[4] = "May";
    month[5] = "June";
    month[6] = "July";
    month[7] = "August";
    month[8] = "September";
    month[9] = "October";
    month[10] = "November";
    month[11] = "December";

    document.getElementById('txt').innerHTML=(weekday[today.getDay()] + ',' + " " + today.getDate()+'<sup>'+suffixes[today.getDate()]+'</sup>' + ' of' + " " + month[today.getMonth()] + " " + today.getFullYear() + ' Time Now ' + today.toLocaleTimeString());
    t=setTimeout(function(){startTime()},500);
}
<style>
sup {
        vertical-align: super;
        font-size: smaller;
    }
</style>
<html>
<body onload="startTime()">
<div id="txt"></div>
</body>
</html>
-2
votes

Check this out may be it will work for you

<script language="JavaScript">
var dayarray=new Array("Sunday","Monday",
 "Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday","Saturday")

var montharray=new Array("January","February","March",
 "April","May","June","July","August","September",
 "October","November","December")

function getthedate(){
var mydate=new Date()
var year=mydate.getYear()
if (year < 1000)
year+=1900
var day=mydate.getDay()
var month=mydate.getMonth()
var daym=mydate.getDate()
if (daym<10)
daym="0"+daym
var hours=mydate.getHours()
var minutes=mydate.getMinutes()
var seconds=mydate.getSeconds()
var dn="AM"
if (hours>=12)
dn="PM"
if (hours>12){
hours=hours-12
}
if (hours==0)
hours=12
if (minutes<=9)
minutes="0"+minutes
if (seconds<=9)
seconds="0"+seconds
//change font size here
var cdate="<small><font color='000000' face='Arial'><b>"+dayarray[day]+", 
    "+montharray[month]+" "+daym+", "+year+" "+hours+":"
 +minutes+":"+seconds+" "+dn
    +"</b></font></small>"
if (document.all)
document.all.clock.innerHTML=cdate
else if (document.getElementById)
document.getElementById("clock").innerHTML=cdate
else
document.write(cdate)
}
 if (!document.all&&!document.getElementById)
  getthedate()
  function goforit(){
  if (document.all||document.getElementById)
 setInterval("getthedate()",1000)
}

 </script>

enter code here

 <span id="clock"></span>
-4
votes

<p id="DateTimeBox">Click The Button To Show Date And Time</p>
<button onclick="ShowDate();"> Show Date </button>
<script>
  function ShowDate() {
    document.getElementById('DateTimeBox').innerHTML = Date();
  }
</script>