C# DateTime to “YYYYMMDDHHMMSS” format

Question

C# DateTime to “YYYYMMDDHHMMSS” format

676

votes

I want to convert a C# DateTime to "YYYYMMDDHHMMSS" format. But I don't find a built in method to get this format? Any comments?

c#datetime

18 Answers

618

votes

This site has great examples check it out

// create date time 2008-03-09 16:05:07.123
DateTime dt = new DateTime(2008, 3, 9, 16, 5, 7, 123);

String.Format("{0:y yy yyy yyyy}",      dt);  // "8 08 008 2008"   year
String.Format("{0:M MM MMM MMMM}",      dt);  // "3 03 Mar March"  month
String.Format("{0:d dd ddd dddd}",      dt);  // "9 09 Sun Sunday" day
String.Format("{0:h hh H HH}",          dt);  // "4 04 16 16"      hour 12/24
String.Format("{0:m mm}",               dt);  // "5 05"            minute
String.Format("{0:s ss}",               dt);  // "7 07"            second
String.Format("{0:f ff fff ffff}",      dt);  // "1 12 123 1230"   sec.fraction
String.Format("{0:F FF FFF FFFF}",      dt);  // "1 12 123 123"    without zeroes
String.Format("{0:t tt}",               dt);  // "P PM"            A.M. or P.M.
String.Format("{0:z zz zzz}",           dt);  // "-6 -06 -06:00"   time zone

// month/day numbers without/with leading zeroes
String.Format("{0:M/d/yyyy}",           dt);  // "3/9/2008"
String.Format("{0:MM/dd/yyyy}",         dt);  // "03/09/2008"

// day/month names
String.Format("{0:ddd, MMM d, yyyy}",   dt);  // "Sun, Mar 9, 2008"
String.Format("{0:dddd, MMMM d, yyyy}", dt);  // "Sunday, March 9, 2008"

// two/four digit year
String.Format("{0:MM/dd/yy}",           dt);  // "03/09/08"
String.Format("{0:MM/dd/yyyy}",         dt);  // "03/09/2008"

Standard DateTime Formatting

String.Format("{0:t}", dt);  // "4:05 PM"                           ShortTime
String.Format("{0:d}", dt);  // "3/9/2008"                          ShortDate
String.Format("{0:T}", dt);  // "4:05:07 PM"                        LongTime
String.Format("{0:D}", dt);  // "Sunday, March 09, 2008"            LongDate
String.Format("{0:f}", dt);  // "Sunday, March 09, 2008 4:05 PM"    LongDate+ShortTime
String.Format("{0:F}", dt);  // "Sunday, March 09, 2008 4:05:07 PM" FullDateTime
String.Format("{0:g}", dt);  // "3/9/2008 4:05 PM"                  ShortDate+ShortTime
String.Format("{0:G}", dt);  // "3/9/2008 4:05:07 PM"               ShortDate+LongTime
String.Format("{0:m}", dt);  // "March 09"                          MonthDay
String.Format("{0:y}", dt);  // "March, 2008"                       YearMonth
String.Format("{0:r}", dt);  // "Sun, 09 Mar 2008 16:05:07 GMT"     RFC1123
String.Format("{0:s}", dt);  // "2008-03-09T16:05:07"               SortableDateTime
String.Format("{0:u}", dt);  // "2008-03-09 16:05:07Z"              UniversalSortableDateTime

/*
Specifier   DateTimeFormatInfo property     Pattern value (for en-US culture)
    t           ShortTimePattern                    h:mm tt
    d           ShortDatePattern                    M/d/yyyy
    T           LongTimePattern                     h:mm:ss tt
    D           LongDatePattern                     dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy
    f           (combination of D and t)            dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy h:mm tt
    F           FullDateTimePattern                 dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy h:mm:ss tt
    g           (combination of d and t)            M/d/yyyy h:mm tt
    G           (combination of d and T)            M/d/yyyy h:mm:ss tt
    m, M        MonthDayPattern                     MMMM dd
    y, Y        YearMonthPattern                    MMMM, yyyy
    r, R        RFC1123Pattern                      ddd, dd MMM yyyy HH':'mm':'ss 'GMT' (*)
    s           SortableDateTimePattern             yyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ss (*)
    u           UniversalSortableDateTimePattern    yyyy'-'MM'-'dd HH':'mm':'ss'Z' (*)
                                                    (*) = culture independent   
*/

Update using c# 6 string interpolation format

// create date time 2008-03-09 16:05:07.123
DateTime dt = new DateTime(2008, 3, 9, 16, 5, 7, 123);

$"{dt:y yy yyy yyyy}";  // "8 08 008 2008"   year
$"{dt:M MM MMM MMMM}";  // "3 03 Mar March"  month
$"{dt:d dd ddd dddd}";  // "9 09 Sun Sunday" day
$"{dt:h hh H HH}";      // "4 04 16 16"      hour 12/24
$"{dt:m mm}";           // "5 05"            minute
$"{dt:s ss}";           // "7 07"            second
$"{dt:f ff fff ffff}";  // "1 12 123 1230"   sec.fraction
$"{dt:F FF FFF FFFF}";  // "1 12 123 123"    without zeroes
$"{dt:t tt}";           // "P PM"            A.M. or P.M.
$"{dt:z zz zzz}";       // "-6 -06 -06:00"   time zone

// month/day numbers without/with leading zeroes
$"{dt:M/d/yyyy}";    // "3/9/2008"
$"{dt:MM/dd/yyyy}";  // "03/09/2008"

// day/month names
$"{dt:ddd, MMM d, yyyy}";    // "Sun, Mar 9, 2008"
$"{dt:dddd, MMMM d, yyyy}";  // "Sunday, March 9, 2008"

// two/four digit year
$"{dt:MM/dd/yy}";    // "03/09/08"
$"{dt:MM/dd/yyyy}";  // "03/09/2008"

255

votes

You've practically written the format yourself.

yourdate.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmss")

MM = two digit month
mm = two digit minutes
HH = two digit hour, 24 hour clock
hh = two digit hour, 12 hour clock

Everything else should be self-explanatory.

137

votes

You've just got to be careful between months (MM) and minutes (mm):

DateTime dt = DateTime.Now; // Or whatever
string s = dt.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmss");

(Also note that HH is 24 hour clock, whereas hh would be 12 hour clock, usually in conjunction with t or tt for the am/pm designator.)

If you want to do this as part of a composite format string, you'd use:

string s = string.Format("The date/time is: {0:yyyyMMddHHmmss}", dt);

For further information, see the MSDN page on custom date and time formats.

27

votes

You can use a custom format string:

DateTime d = DateTime.Now;
string dateString = d.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmss");

Substitute "hh" for "HH" if you do not want 24-hour clock time.

23

votes

If you use ReSharper, get help with ':' (see image)

18

votes

DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmss");

if you just want it displayed as a string

17

votes

In .Net Standard 2 you can format DateTime like belows:

DateTime dt = DateTime.Now;
CultureInfo iv = CultureInfo.InvariantCulture;

// Default formats
// D - long date           Tuesday, 24 April 2018
// d - short date          04/24/2018
// F - full date long      Tuesday, 24 April 2018 06:30:00
// f - full date short     Tuesday, 24 April 2018 06:30
// G - general long        04/24/2018 06:30:00
// g - general short       04/24/2018 06:30
// U - universal full      Tuesday, 24 April 2018 06:30:00
// u - universal sortable  2018-04-24 06:30:00
// s - sortable            2018-04-24T06:30:00
// T - long time           06:30:00
// t - short time          06:30
// O - ISO 8601            2018-04-24T06:30:00.0000000
// R - RFC 1123            Tue, 24 Apr 2018 06:30:00 GMT           
// M - month               April 24
// Y - year month          2018 April
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("D", iv));

// Custom formats
// M/d/yy                  4/8/18
// MM/dd/yyyy              04/08/2018
// yy-MM-dd                08-04-18
// yy-MMM-dd ddd           08-Apr-18 Sun
// yyyy-M-d dddd           2018-4-8 Sunday
// yyyy MMMM dd            2018 April 08      
// h:mm:ss tt zzz          4:03:05 PM -03
// HH:m:s tt zzz           16:03:05 -03:00
// hh:mm:ss t z            04:03:05 P -03
// HH:mm:ss tt zz          16:03:05 PM -03      
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("M/d/yy", iv));

11

votes

string date = DateTime.Now.ToString("dd-MMM-yy");  //05-Aug-13

10

votes

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

8

votes

I am surprised no one has a link for this . any format can be created using the guidelines here:

Custom Date and Time Format Strings

For your specific example (As others have indicated) use something like

my_format="yyyyMMddHHmmss";
DateTime.Now.ToString(my_format);

Where my_format can be any string combination of y,M,H,m,s,f,F and more! Check out the link.

7

votes

Get the date as a DateTime object instead of a String. Then you can format it as you want.

MM/dd/yyyy 08/22/2006
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy Tuesday, 22 August 2006
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm Tuesday, 22 August 2006 06:30
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy hh:mm tt Tuesday, 22 August 2006 06:30 AM
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy H:mm Tuesday, 22 August 2006 6:30
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy h:mm tt Tuesday, 22 August 2006 6:30 AM
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm:ss Tuesday, 22 August 2006 06:30:07
MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm 08/22/2006 06:30
MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm tt 08/22/2006 06:30 AM
MM/dd/yyyy H:mm 08/22/2006 6:30
MM/dd/yyyy h:mm tt 08/22/2006 6:30 AM
MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss 08/22/2006 06:30:07

Click here for more patterns

3

votes

using C# 6.0

$"Date-{DateTime.Now:yyyyMMddHHmmss}"

3

votes

An easy Method, Full control over 'from type' and 'to type', and only need to remember this code for future castings

DateTime.ParseExact(InputDate, "dd/MM/yyyy", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture).ToString("yyyy/MM/dd"));

2

votes

It is not a big deal. you can simply put like this

WriteLine($"{DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd-HH:mm:ss")}");

Excuse here for I used $ which is for string Interpolation .

0

votes

Chances are slim that any of the above answers wouldn't has solved your problem. Nonetheless, I'm sharing my method which always works for me for different format of datetimes.

//Definition   
     public static DateTime ConvertPlainStringToDatetime(string Date, string inputFormat, string  outputFormat)
            {
                DateTime date;
                CultureInfo enUS = new CultureInfo("en-US");
                DateTime.TryParseExact(Date, inputFormat, enUS,
                                    DateTimeStyles.AdjustToUniversal, out date);

                string formatedDateTime = date.ToString(outputFormat);
                return Convert.ToDateTime(formatedDateTime);   
            }
//Calling

    string oFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss";
    DateTime requiredDT = ConvertPlainStringToDatetime("20190205","yyyyMMddHHmmss", oFormat  );
    DateTime requiredDT = ConvertPlainStringToDatetime("20190508-12:46:42","yyyyMMdd-HH:mm:ss", oFormat);

0

votes

Specify formatted DateTime as Utc:

Step 1 - Initial date

var initialDtm = DateTime.Now;

Step 2 - Format date as willing ("yyyyMMddHHmmss")

var formattedDtm = DateTime.ParseExact(initialDtm.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmss"), "yyyyMMddHHmmss", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

Step 3 - Specify kind of date (Utc)

var specifiedDtm = DateTime.SpecifyKind( formattedDtm, DateTimeKind.Utc);

-2

votes

After spent a lot of hours on Google search, I found the below solution as when I locally give date time, no exception while from other server, there was Error......... Date is not in proper format.. Before saving/ searching Text box date time in C#, just checking either the outer Serer Culture is same like database server culture.. Ex both should be "en-US" or must be both "en-GB" asp below snap shot.

Even with different date format like (dd/mm/yyyy) or (yyyy/mm/dd), it will save or search accurately.

Jim Lamb Jim Lamb · Accepted Answer · 2010-06-11T18:48:11

1148

votes

DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmss"); // case sensitive