search
Search
Login
Unlock 100+ guides
menu
menu
web
search toc
close
Comments
Log in or sign up
Cancel
Post
account_circle
Profile
exit_to_app
Sign out
What does this mean?
Why is this true?
Give me some examples!
search
keyboard_voice
close
Searching Tips
Search for a recipe:
"Creating a table in MySQL"
Search for an API documentation: "@append"
Search for code: "!dataframe"
Apply a tag filter: "#python"
Useful Shortcuts
/ to open search panel
Esc to close search panel
to navigate between search results
d to clear all current filters
Enter to expand content preview
icon_star
Doc Search
icon_star
Code Search Beta
SORRY NOTHING FOUND!
mic
Start speaking...
Voice search is only supported in Safari and Chrome.
Navigate to

Converting datetime to string in Python

schedule Aug 12, 2023
Last updated
local_offer
Python
Tags
tocTable of Contents
expand_more
mode_heat
Master the mathematics behind data science with 100+ top-tier guides
Start your free 7-days trial now!

We can convert a datetime to a string in Python using the datetime.strftime(~) method.

Examples

To convert the current datetime to a string date:

from datetime import datetime
dt = datetime.now() #Initialize datetime object 2021-05-20 08:45:47.780314
s = dt.strftime("%Y/%-m/%-d") #Convert datetime object to string

print(s)
print(type(s))
2021/5/20
<class 'str'>

Notice that we pass a format string to the datetime.sfrftime(~) method which specifies what format the output string should follow. In this case we provided "%Y/%-m/%-d" which is why the output result is in YYYY/MM/DD format without zero padding.

List of Format Codes

The below tables provides information of the various directives used for expressing date formats:

Directive

Meaning

Example

%a

Weekday as locale’s abbreviated name.

Sun, Mon, …, Sat (en_US);

So, Mo, …, Sa (de_DE)

%A

Weekday as locale’s full name.

Sunday, Monday, …, Saturday (en_US);

Sonntag, Montag, …, Samstag (de_DE)

%w

Weekday as a decimal number, where 0 is Sunday and 6 is Saturday.

0, 1, …, 6

%d

Day of the month as a zero-padded decimal number.

01, 02, …, 31

%b

Month as locale’s abbreviated name.

Jan, Feb, …, Dec (en_US);

Jan, Feb, …, Dez (de_DE)

%B

Month as locale’s full name.

January, February, …, December (en_US);

Januar, Februar, …, Dezember (de_DE)

%m

Month as a zero-padded decimal number.

01, 02, …, 12

%y

Year without century as a zero-padded decimal number.

00, 01, …, 99

%Y

Year with century as a decimal number.

0001, 0002, …, 2013, 2014, …, 9998, 9999

%H

Hour (24-hour clock) as a zero-padded decimal number.

00, 01, …, 23

%I

Hour (12-hour clock) as a zero-padded decimal number.

01, 02, …, 12

%p

Locale’s equivalent of either AM or PM.

AM, PM (en_US);am, pm (de_DE)

%M

Minute as a zero-padded decimal number.

00, 01, …, 59

%S

Second as a zero-padded decimal number.

00, 01, …, 59

%f

Microsecond as a decimal number, zero-padded on the left.

000000, 000001, …, 999999

%z

UTC offset in the form ±HHMM[SS[.ffffff]] (empty string if the object is naive).

(empty), +0000, -0400, +1030, +063415, -030712.345216

%Z

Time zone name (empty string if the object is naive).

(empty), UTC, EST, CST

%j

Day of the year as a zero-padded decimal number.

001, 002, …, 366

%U

Week number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a zero padded decimal number. All days in a new year preceding the first Sunday are considered to be in week 0.

00, 01, …, 53

%W

Week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number. All days in a new year preceding the first Monday are considered to be in week 0.

00, 01, …, 53

%c

Locale’s appropriate date and time representation.

Tue Aug 16 21:30:00 1988 (en_US);Di 16 Aug 21:30:00 1988 (de_DE)

%x

Locale’s appropriate date representation.

08/16/88 (None);08/16/1988 (en_US);16.08.1988 (de_DE)

%X

Locale’s appropriate time representation.

21:30:00 (en_US);21:30:00 (de_DE)

%%

A literal '%' character.

%

robocat
Published by Arthur Yanagisawa
Edited by 0 others
Did you find this page useful?
thumb_up
thumb_down
Comment
Citation
Ask a question or leave a feedback...
thumb_up
0
thumb_down
0
chat_bubble_outline
0
settings
Enjoy our search
Hit / to insta-search docs and recipes!