AMPscript Date and Time Formatting

AMPscript assumes all date datatype values use en-US or UTC formatting. You can output several different date and time formats with AMPscript, depending on your needs.

We recommend using the Format() function for date and time formatting that requires a locale setting.

This table shows available formats for both the Format() and FormatDate() functions, illustrated by the subsequent examples. For a longer table of available tokens and formats, review AMPscript Date and Time Formats: Format() and FormatDate().

This table demonstrates the available formats:

Year (Example: 2011)	Month (Example: August)	Date (Example: Monday, August 15)	Hours (Example: 20)	Minutes (Example: :00)	Seconds (Example: :05)	AM/PM (Example: PM)	Offset (Example: -6:00)
y = 11	M = 8	d = 15	h = 8	m = 0	s = 5	t = P	z = -6
yy = 11	MM = 08	dd = 15	hh = 08	mm = 00	ss = 05	tt = PM	zz = -06
yyy = 2011	MMM = Aug	dddd = Mon	H = 8	-	-	-	zzz = -06:00
yyyy = 2011	MMMM = August	ddddd = Monday	HH = 20	-	-	-	-

The output for M varies depending on whether M is used in a single function or within a group of functions.

The M variable in a single function displays as a numeral.

As a single M within a group of functions, the result is the full name of the month and the date in two-digit format. If you use the % character with the M variable in a group of functions, the M variable displays output as if it were in a single function.

The next example takes the results of the Now() function, and returns three different formats.

%%[
Output(Concat(Format(Now(),"M"), "<br>"))
Output(Concat(Format(Now(),"M-d-yy"), "<br>"))
Output(Concat(Format(Now(),"%M"), "<br>"))
]%%

%%[
Output(Concat(FormatDate(Now(),"M"), "<br>"))
Output(Concat(FormatDate(Now(),"M-d-yy"), "<br>"))
Output(Concat(FormatDate(Now(),"%M"), "<br>"))
]%%

Result:

September 06
9-6-19
9

This example below takes the results of the Now() function and returns it in the specified format.

%%=Format(Now(), "MMMM d, yyyy")=%%

%%=FormatDate(Now(), "MMMM d, yyyy")=%%

Result: August 15, 2011

This example formats a date and returns it in the specified format:

%%=Format("2011-08-15 20:00:05.567890", "MMM dd, yyyy h:mm:ss.tt", "Date", "en-US")=%%

%%=FormatDate("2011-08-15 20:00:05.567890", "MMM dd, yyyy", "l", "en-US")=%%

Result: Aug 15, 2011 8:00:05.PM

This example takes the value of Now(), offsets it using the DateAdd() function, and then returns that value in the specified format.

%%[
VAR @futureDate, @today
SET @today = Now(1)
SET @futureDate = DateAdd(@today, 11, "D")]%%
Date: %%=Format(@futureDate, "MMMM d, yyyy")=%%

%%[
VAR @futureDate, @today
SET @today = Now(1)
SET @futureDate = DateAdd(@today, 11, "D")
]%%
Date: %%=FormatDate(@futureDate, "MMMM d, yyyy")=%%

Given that the date is August 15, 2011, The output would be: Date: August 26, 2011

This example outputs the Birthday attribute of a subscriber, from all subs or the sendable data extension in the specified format.

%%[Output(Format([Birthday],"dd/MM/yyyy"))]%%

Given a Birthday attribute equal to August 15, 2011, The output would be: 15/08/2011

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AMPscript Date and Time Formatting