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MySQL DATE_FORMAT() Function

Last Updated : 23 Jul, 2025
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MySQL DATE_FORMAT() function formats a specified date to a given format value.

DATE_FORMAT() Function in MySQL

The DATE_FORMAT() function in MySQL formats a specified date or datetime according to the given format.

The DATE_FORMAT() function allows you to customize the display of date and time values in MySQL by using a combination of format specifiers.

t is commonly used in SELECT statements to format date columns for better readability and presentation.

Syntax

MySQL DATE_FORMAT function Syntax is:

DATE_FORMAT(date, format)

Parameters:

This function accepts two parameters as given below :

  • date - Specified date to be formatted.
  • format - Specified format.

MySQL DATE_FORMAT() Function Format Specifiers

This list of formats used in this function are listed below

FormatDescription
%aThis abbreviation means weekday name. It's limit is from Sun to Sat.
%bThis abbreviation means month name. It's limit is from Jan to Dec.
%cThis abbreviation means numeric month name. It's limit is from 0 to 12.
%DThis abbreviation means day of the month as a numeric value, followed by suffix like 1st, 2nd, etc.
%eThis abbreviation means day of the month as a numeric value. It's limit is from 0 to 31.
%fThis abbreviation means microseconds. It's limit is from 000000 to 999999.
%HThis abbreviation means hour. It's limit is from 00 to 23.
%iThis abbreviation means minutes. It's limit is from 00 to 59.
%jThis abbreviation means day of the year. It's limit is from 001 to 366.
%MThis abbreviation means month name from January to December.
%pThis abbreviation means AM or PM.
%SThis abbreviation means seconds. It's limit is from 00 to 59.
%UThis abbreviation means week where Sunday is the first day of the week. It's limit is from 00 to 53.
%WThis abbreviation means weekday name from Sunday to Saturday.
%YThis abbreviation means year as a numeric value of 4-digits.

MySQL DATE_FORMAT() Function

Let's look at some examples of the DATE_FORMAT() function in MySQL.

Example 1

Getting a formatted year as "2020" from the specified date "2020-11-23". 

SELECT DATE_FORMAT("2020-11-23", "%Y");

Output :

2020

Example 2

Getting a formatted month name as "November" from the specified date "2020-11-23". 

SELECT DATE_FORMAT("2020-11-23", "%M");

Output :

November

Example 3

Getting a day of the month as a numeric value as "23rd" from the specified date "2020-11-23". 

SELECT DATE_FORMAT("2020-11-23", "%D");

Output :

23rd

Example-4 :

Getting month day and year as "November 23 2020" from the specified date "2020-11-23". 

SELECT DATE_FORMAT("2020-11-23", "%M %d %Y");

Output :

November 23 2020

Important Points About MySQL DATE_FORMAT() Function

  • The MySQL DATE_FORMAT() function is used to format a date value based on a specific format.
  • The DATE_FORMAT() function returns a string whose character set and collation depend on the settings of the client’s connection2.
  • It will return NULL if any of the arguments are NULL.
  • The DATE_FORMAT() function is supported in MySQL from version 4.01.

K
Kanchan_Ray
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