The strftime format standard defines date and time formatting specifiers across POSIX systems, C, Ruby, Python, and command-line utilities like date.
Common Presets
Date Patterns
| Format Specifier | Sample Output | Description |
|---|---|---|
%m/%d/%Y |
06/05/2026 |
US standard date |
%A, %B %e, %Y |
Sunday, June 5, 2026 |
Long full date |
%b %e %a |
Jun 5 Sun |
Short date |
%Y-%m-%d |
2026-06-05 |
ISO 8601 date |
Time Patterns
| Format Specifier | Sample Output | Description |
|---|---|---|
%H:%M |
23:05 |
24-hour time without seconds |
%I:%M %p |
11:05 PM |
12-hour time with AM/PM |
%H:%M:%S |
23:05:42 |
24-hour time with seconds |
Date Specifiers
| Specifier | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
%a |
Sun |
Abbreviated weekday name |
%A |
Sunday |
Full weekday name |
%w |
0..6 |
Weekday as decimal (0 = Sunday) |
%u |
1..7 |
Weekday as decimal (1 = Monday) |
%y |
26 |
Two-digit year |
%Y |
2026 |
Four-digit year |
%b |
Jan |
Abbreviated month name |
%B |
January |
Full month name |
%m |
01..12 |
Month as zero-padded decimal |
%d |
01..31 |
Day of the month zero-padded |
%e |
1..31 |
Day of the month blank-padded |
Time Specifiers
| Specifier | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
%l |
1 |
Hour in 12-hour clock blank-padded (1..12) |
%H |
00..23 |
Hour in 24-hour clock zero-padded |
%I |
01..12 |
Hour in 12-hour clock zero-padded |
%M |
00..59 |
Minute as zero-padded decimal |
%S |
00..60 |
Second as zero-padded decimal |
%p |
AM / PM |
Meridian indicator |
%z |
+0000 |
RFC 822 / ISO 8601 numeric timezone offset |
%Z |
UTC |
Timezone abbreviation name |
%j |
001..366 |
Day of the year as zero-padded decimal |
%% |
% |
Literal percentage sign |