How-to: strftime format codes

Common date and time string formats.

Format Description

%% A literal %.

%a The locale’s abbreviated weekday name (Sun..Sat).

%A The locale’s full weekday name (Sunday..Saturday).

%B The locale’s full month name (January..December).

%b or %h The locale’s abbreviated month name (Jan..Dec).

%c The locale’s default/preferred date and time representation.

%C The century (a year divided by 100 and truncated to an integer) as a decimal number (00..99).

%d The day of the month as a decimal number (01..31).

%D The date in the format %m/%d/%y (MM/DD/YY). This format is only recognised in the United States, so it is ambiguous and should be avoided.
Use %F instead, since it is a recognized standard and sorts well.

%e The day of month as a blank padded decimal number ( 1..31).

%F The date in the format %Y-%m-%d (the ISO 8601 date format: CCYY-MM-DD); except when it’s the full month name, as on HP-UX.

%g The two-digit year corresponding to the %V week number (YY).

%G The four-digit year corresponding to the %V week number (CCYY).

%H The hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number (00..23).

%h or %b The locale’s abbreviated month name (Jan..Dec).

%I The hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number (01..12).

%j The day of the year as a decimal number (001..366).

%k The hour (24-hour clock) as a blank padded decimal number ( 0..23).

%l The hour (12-hour clock) as a blank padded decimal number ( 1,12).

%m The month as a decimal number (01..12).

%M The minute as a decimal number (00..59).

%n A literal newline.

%N Nanoseconds (000000000..999999999). [GNU]

%p The locale’s equivalent of either "AM" or "PM".

%P The locale’s equivalent of either "am" or "pm". [GNU]

%r The locale’s representation of 12-hour clock time using AM/PM notation (HH:MM:SS AM/PM).

%R The time in the format %H:%M (HH:MM).
%s The number of seconds since the Epoch, UTC (January 1, 1970 at 00:00:00).

%S The second as a decimal number (00..61). The range of seconds is (00-61) instead of (00-59) to allow for the periodic occurrence of leap seconds and double leap seconds.

%t A literal tab.

%T The time in the format %H:%M:%S (HH:MM:SS).

%u The weekday (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (1..7).

%U The week number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (00..53).

%v The date in the format %e-%b-%Y (D-MMM-CCYY). [Not standard]

%V The week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (01..53). According to ISO 8601 the week containing January 1 is week 1 if it has four or more days in the new year, otherwise it is week 53 of the previous year, and the next week is week 1. The year is given by the %G conversion specification.

%w The weekday (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (0..6).

%W The week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (00..53).

%x The locale’s appropriate date representation.

%X The locale’s appropriate time representation.

%y The year without century as a decimal number (00..99).

%Y The year with century as a decimal number.

%z The offset from UTC in the ISO 8601 format [-]hhmm.

%Z The time zone name.

Format	Description
%%	A literal %.
%a	The locale’s abbreviated weekday name (Sun..Sat).
%A	The locale’s full weekday name (Sunday..Saturday).
%B	The locale’s full month name (January..December).
%b or %h	The locale’s abbreviated month name (Jan..Dec).
%c	The locale’s default/preferred date and time representation.
%C	The century (a year divided by 100 and truncated to an integer) as a decimal number (00..99).
%d	The day of the month as a decimal number (01..31).
%D	The date in the format %m/%d/%y (MM/DD/YY). This format is only recognised in the United States, so it is ambiguous and should be avoided. Use %F instead, since it is a recognized standard and sorts well.
%e	The day of month as a blank padded decimal number ( 1..31).
%F	The date in the format %Y-%m-%d (the ISO 8601 date format: CCYY-MM-DD); except when it’s the full month name, as on HP-UX.
%g	The two-digit year corresponding to the %V week number (YY).
%G	The four-digit year corresponding to the %V week number (CCYY).
%H	The hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number (00..23).
%h or %b	The locale’s abbreviated month name (Jan..Dec).
%I	The hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number (01..12).
%j	The day of the year as a decimal number (001..366).
%k	The hour (24-hour clock) as a blank padded decimal number ( 0..23).
%l	The hour (12-hour clock) as a blank padded decimal number ( 1,12).
%m	The month as a decimal number (01..12).
%M	The minute as a decimal number (00..59).
%n	A literal newline.
%N	Nanoseconds (000000000..999999999). [GNU]
%p	The locale’s equivalent of either "AM" or "PM".
%P	The locale’s equivalent of either "am" or "pm". [GNU]
%r	The locale’s representation of 12-hour clock time using AM/PM notation (HH:MM:SS AM/PM).
%R	The time in the format %H:%M (HH:MM).
%s	The number of seconds since the Epoch, UTC (January 1, 1970 at 00:00:00).
%S	The second as a decimal number (00..61). The range of seconds is (00-61) instead of (00-59) to allow for the periodic occurrence of leap seconds and double leap seconds.
%t	A literal tab.
%T	The time in the format %H:%M:%S (HH:MM:SS).
%u	The weekday (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (1..7).
%U	The week number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (00..53).
%v	The date in the format %e-%b-%Y (D-MMM-CCYY). [Not standard]
%V	The week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (01..53). According to ISO 8601 the week containing January 1 is week 1 if it has four or more days in the new year, otherwise it is week 53 of the previous year, and the next week is week 1. The year is given by the %G conversion specification.
%w	The weekday (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (0..6).
%W	The week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (00..53).
%x	The locale’s appropriate date representation.
%X	The locale’s appropriate time representation.
%y	The year without century as a decimal number (00..99).
%Y	The year with century as a decimal number.
%z	The offset from UTC in the ISO 8601 format [-]hhmm.
%Z	The time zone name.

Related macOS commands

cal - Display a calendar.
crontab - Schedule a command to run at a later time.

time - Measure Program Resource Use.
touch - Change file timestamps.
TimeZones