SQL Server Date Formats

One of the most frequently asked questions in SQL Server forums is how to format a datetime value or column into a specific date format. Here's a summary of the different date formats that come standard in SQL Server as part of the CONVERT function. Following the standard date formats are some extended date formats that are often asked by SQL Server developers.

It is worth to note that the output of these date formats are of VARCHAR data types already and not of DATETIME data type. With this in mind, any date comparisons performed after the datetime value has been formatted are using the VARCHAR value of the date and time and not its original DATETIME value.

Standard Date Formats
Date Format	Standard	SQL Statement	Sample Output
Mon DD YYYY 1 HH:MIAM (or PM)	Default	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(20), GETDATE(), 100)	Jan 1 2005 1:29PM 1
MM/DD/YY	USA	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 1) AS [MM/DD/YY]	11/23/98
MM/DD/YYYY	USA	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 101) AS [MM/DD/YYYY]	11/23/1998
YY.MM.DD	ANSI	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 2) AS [YY.MM.DD]	72.01.01
YYYY.MM.DD	ANSI	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 102) AS [YYYY.MM.DD]	1972.01.01
DD/MM/YY	British/French	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 3) AS [DD/MM/YY]	19/02/72
DD/MM/YYYY	British/French	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 103) AS [DD/MM/YYYY]	19/02/1972
DD.MM.YY	German	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 4) AS [DD.MM.YY]	25.12.05
DD.MM.YYYY	German	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 104) AS [DD.MM.YYYY]	25.12.2005
DD-MM-YY	Italian	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 5) AS [DD-MM-YY]	24-01-98
DD-MM-YYYY	Italian	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 105) AS [DD-MM-YYYY]	24-01-1998
DD Mon YY 1	-	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(9), GETDATE(), 6) AS [DD MON YY]	04 Jul 06 1
DD Mon YYYY 1	-	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(11), GETDATE(), 106) AS [DD MON YYYY]	04 Jul 2006 1
Mon DD, YY 1	-	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 7) AS [Mon DD, YY]	Jan 24, 98 1
Mon DD, YYYY 1	-	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(12), GETDATE(), 107) AS [Mon DD, YYYY]	Jan 24, 1998 1
HH:MM:SS	-	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 108)	03:24:53
Mon DD YYYY HH:MI:SS:MMMAM (or PM) 1	Default + milliseconds	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(26), GETDATE(), 109)	Apr 28 2006 12:32:29:253PM 1
MM-DD-YY	USA	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 10) AS [MM-DD-YY]	01-01-06
MM-DD-YYYY	USA	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 110) AS [MM-DD-YYYY]	01-01-2006
YY/MM/DD	-	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 11) AS [YY/MM/DD]	98/11/23
YYYY/MM/DD	-	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 111) AS [YYYY/MM/DD]	1998/11/23
YYMMDD	ISO	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(6), GETDATE(), 12) AS [YYMMDD]	980124
YYYYMMDD	ISO	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 112) AS [YYYYMMDD]	19980124
DD Mon YYYY HH:MM:SS:MMM(24h) 1	Europe default + milliseconds	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(24), GETDATE(), 113)	28 Apr 2006 00:34:55:190 1
HH:MI:SS:MMM(24H)	-	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(12), GETDATE(), 114) AS [HH:MI:SS:MMM(24H)]	11:34:23:013
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS(24h)	ODBC Canonical	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(19), GETDATE(), 120)	1972-01-01 13:42:24
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS.MMM(24h)	ODBC Canonical (with milliseconds)	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(23), GETDATE(), 121)	1972-02-19 06:35:24.489
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS:MMM	ISO8601	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(23), GETDATE(), 126)	1998-11-23T11:25:43:250
DD Mon YYYY HH:MI:SS:MMMAM 1	Kuwaiti	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(26), GETDATE(), 130)	28 Apr 2006 12:39:32:429AM 1
DD/MM/YYYY HH:MI:SS:MMMAM	Kuwaiti	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(25), GETDATE(), 131)	28/04/2006 12:39:32:429AM

Here are some more date formats that does not come standard in SQL Server as part of the CONVERT function.

Extended Date Formats
Date Format	SQL Statement	Sample Output
YY-MM-DD	SELECT SUBSTRING(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120), 3, 8) AS [YY-MM-DD] SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 11), '/', '-') AS [YY-MM-DD]	99-01-24
YYYY-MM-DD	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120) AS [YYYY-MM-DD] SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 111), '/', '-') AS [YYYY-MM-DD]	1999-01-24
MM/YY	SELECT RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 3), 5) AS [MM/YY] SELECT SUBSTRING(CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 3), 4, 5) AS [MM/YY]	08/99
MM/YYYY	SELECT RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 103), 7) AS [MM/YYYY]	12/2005
YY/MM	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(5), GETDATE(), 11) AS [YY/MM]	99/08
YYYY/MM	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(7), GETDATE(), 111) AS [YYYY/MM]	2005/12
Month DD, YYYY 1	SELECT DATENAME(MM, GETDATE()) + RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(12), GETDATE(), 107), 9) AS [Month DD, YYYY]	July 04, 2006 1
Mon YYYY 1	SELECT SUBSTRING(CONVERT(VARCHAR(11), GETDATE(), 113), 4, 8) AS [Mon YYYY]	Apr 2006 1
Month YYYY 1	SELECT DATENAME(MM, GETDATE()) + ' ' + CAST(YEAR(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(4)) AS [Month YYYY]	February 2006 1
DD Month 1	SELECT CAST(DAY(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(2)) + ' ' + DATENAME(MM, GETDATE()) AS [DD Month]	11 September 1
Month DD 1	SELECT DATENAME(MM, GETDATE()) + ' ' + CAST(DAY(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(2)) AS [Month DD]	September 11 1
DD Month YY 1	SELECT CAST(DAY(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(2)) + ' ' + DATENAME(MM, GETDATE()) + ' ' + RIGHT(CAST(YEAR(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(4)), 2) AS [DD Month YY]	19 February 72 1
DD Month YYYY 1	SELECT CAST(DAY(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(2)) + ' ' + DATENAME(MM, GETDATE()) + ' ' + CAST(YEAR(GETDATE()) AS VARCHAR(4)) AS [DD Month YYYY]	11 September 2002 1
MM-YY	SELECT RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 5), 5) AS [MM-YY] SELECT SUBSTRING(CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 5), 4, 5) AS [MM-YY]	12/92
MM-YYYY	SELECT RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 105), 7) AS [MM-YYYY]	05-2006
YY-MM	SELECT RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(7), GETDATE(), 120), 5) AS [YY-MM] SELECT SUBSTRING(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 120), 3, 5) AS [YY-MM]	92/12
YYYY-MM	SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(7), GETDATE(), 120) AS [YYYY-MM]	2006-05
MMDDYY	SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 1), '/', '') AS [MMDDYY]	122506
MMDDYYYY	SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 101), '/', '') AS [MMDDYYYY]	12252006
DDMMYY	SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 3), '/', '') AS [DDMMYY]	240702
DDMMYYYY	SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), GETDATE(), 103), '/', '') AS [DDMMYYYY]	24072002
Mon-YY 1	SELECT REPLACE(RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(9), GETDATE(), 6), 6), ' ', '-') AS [Mon-YY]	Sep-02 1
Mon-YYYY 1	SELECT REPLACE(RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR(11), GETDATE(), 106), 8), ' ', '-') AS [Mon-YYYY]	Sep-2002 1
DD-Mon-YY 1	SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(9), GETDATE(), 6), ' ', '-') AS [DD-Mon-YY]	25-Dec-05 1
DD-Mon-YYYY 1	SELECT REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(11), GETDATE(), 106), ' ', '-') AS [DD-Mon-YYYY]	25-Dec-2005 1

¹ To make the month name in upper case, simply use the UPPER string function.

Gmail Goes Offline With Google Gears

Until today, one of the biggest drawbacks of Gmail is that you could not go through your emails when you were offline. Today, that changes. Gmail is finally going offline. Google is rolling out a Google Gearsversion of Gmail that will be available to users starting today in Gmail Labs. (If you don’t see it, keep checking, the rollout to all users should be complete by the end of the week).

After installing the Google Gears plug-in to your browser, Gmail detects when you are offline. It caches your e-mail so that you can read it, respond to it, search it, star it, or label it. When you are connected to the Internet again, it sends all the messages. You can even open attachments. This is exactly the way Gmail already works on mobile phones such as the Android and those that support Gears. In fact, according to Gmail product manager Todd Jackson, who briefed me earlier today:

Some features, however, won’t work. Anything that requires an Internet connection, such as spellcheck, won’t work offline. And while you can open attachments, you won’t be able to add attachments at launch (that feature will be added soon, however).

Google Gears is a key part of the company’s Web app strategy. An Gears version of Google Docs was introduced in March, 2008. And an offline version of Google Calendar will soon be offered to enterprise customers. Jackson explains:

Our long term vision is that the browser is the ideal platform for deploying all types of applications. We think the most powerful applications should run inside the browser. Historically it has been constrained by the connection.

Throw off those chains, Gmail users.

If you like to know more details -

Offline Gmail. New Gmail Lab Feature