B.2 DateTime Format Specifiers

Table B-3 lists the valid format specifiers supported by the Format method on the DateTime type (see System.IFormattable).

Table B-3. DateTime Format Specifiers

Specifier	String Result
D	MM/dd/yyyy
d	dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy
f	dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy HH:mm
F	dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy HH:mm:ss
g	MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm
G	MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss
m, M	MMMM dd
r, R	Ddd, dd MMM yyyy HH':'mm':'ss `GMT'
s	yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss
S	yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss GMT
t	HH:mm
T	HH:mm:ss
u	yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss
U	dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy HH:mm:ss
y, Y	MMMM, yyyy

Here's an example that uses these custom format specifiers on a DateTime value:

using System;
class TestDateTimeFormats {
  static void Main() {
    DateTime dt = new DateTime(2000, 10, 11, 15, 32, 14);
    // Prints "2000-10-11T15:32:14"
    Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString()); 
    // Prints "Wednesday, October 11, 2000"
    Console.WriteLine("{0}", dt);     
    // Prints "10/11/2000"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:d}", dt); 
    // Prints "Wednesday, October 11, 2000"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:D}", dt); 
    // Prints "Wednesday, October 11, 2000 3:32 PM"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:f}", dt); 
    // Prints "Wednesday, October 11, 2000 3:32:14 PM"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:F}", dt);  
    // Prints "10/11/2000 3:32 PM"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:g}", dt); 
    // Prints "10/11/2000 3:32:14 PM"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:G}", dt);
    // Prints "October 11"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:m}", dt);
    // Prints "October 11"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:M}", dt);
    // Prints "Wed, 11 Oct 2000 22:32:14 GMT"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:r}", dt); 
    // Prints "Wed, 11 Oct 2000 22:32:14 GMT"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:R}", dt); 
    // Prints "3:32 PM"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:t}", dt); 
    // Prints "3:32:14 PM"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:T}", dt); 
    // Prints "2000-10-11 22:32:14Z"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:u}", dt); 
    // Prints "Wednesday, October 11, 2000 10:32:14 PM"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:U}", dt); 
    // Prints "October, 2000"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:y}", dt); 
    // Prints "October, 2000"
    Console.WriteLine("{0:Y}", dt); 
    // Prints "Wednesday the 11 day of October in the year 2000"
    Console.WriteLine(
      "{0:dddd 'the' d 'day of' MMMM 'in the year' yyyy}", dt);
  }
}