Date Format Masks
.NET Date and Time Format Masks
Standard Format Masks
Standard format masks are single-character specifiers that represent common date and time formats. The output varies based on the system's culture settings.
| Character | Description | Example (en-US) |
|---|---|---|
d |
Short date | 1/1/2001 |
D |
Long date | Monday, January 1, 2001 |
f |
Full date/time (long date + short time) | Monday, January 1, 2001 10:30 AM |
F |
Full date/time (long date + long time) | Monday, January 1, 2001 10:30:22 AM |
g |
General date/time (short date + short time) | 1/1/2001 10:30 AM |
G |
General date/time (short date + long time) | 1/1/2001 10:30:22 AM |
m / M |
Month and day | January 1 |
r / R |
RFC 1123 format | Mon, 1 Jan 2001 10:30:22 GMT |
t |
Short time | 10:30 AM |
T |
Long time | 10:30:22 AM |
y / Y |
Year and month | January 2001 |
Custom Format Masks
Custom format masks allow you to build precise, culture-independent date and time formats using specific patterns.
| Pattern | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
d |
Day of month (no leading zero) | 1 |
dd |
Day of month (with leading zero) | 01 |
ddd |
Abbreviated day of week | Mon |
dddd |
Full day of week | Monday |
M |
Month (no leading zero) | 1 |
MM |
Month (with leading zero) | 01 |
MMM |
Abbreviated month name | Jan |
MMMM |
Full month name | January |
y |
Year (last two digits, no leading zero) | 1 |
yy |
Year (last two digits, with leading zero) | 01 |
yyyy |
Full year (four digits) | 2001 |
h |
Hour (12-hour, no leading zero) | 1 |
hh |
Hour (12-hour, with leading zero) | 01 |
H |
Hour (24-hour, no leading zero) | 1 |
HH |
Hour (24-hour, with leading zero) | 01 |
m |
Minute (no leading zero) | 1 |
mm |
Minute (with leading zero) | 01 |
s |
Second (no leading zero) | 1 |
ss |
Second (with leading zero) | 01 |
f–fffffff |
Fractions of a second (1–7 digits) | 1 to 1111111 |
t |
First character of AM/PM | A or P |
tt |
AM/PM designator | AM or PM |
z |
Time zone offset (e.g., -8) |
-8 |
zz |
Time zone offset with leading zero | -08 |
zzz |
Full time zone offset | -08:00 |
: |
Time separator (culture-specific) | : |
/ |
Date separator (culture-specific) | / |
\c |
Escape character (e.g., \\ for backslash) |
\ or \\ |