Format()

Formats a string, date, or number in a specified format.

This function became available in Marketing Cloud Next during the Summer ’26 release (API version 67.0).

1Format(input,
2       outputFormat,
3       dataFormat,
4       cultureCode)

The Format() function has four parameters:

• input (datetime, number, or string): Required. The string to apply formatting rules to.

• outputFormat (string): Required. A format string to apply to input.

• dataFormat (string): The data format of the string. Possible values are Date and Number.

  For best results, always specify a value for dataFormat. If you don’t specify a value for dataFormat, the function tries to determine the type of the input data.

  Note

• cultureCode (string): A culture code to apply to the string.

Use these codes to format strings as numeric values.

You can also format strings as dates. See Pre-Defined Date Formats and Custom Date Formats.

You can use this function to format strings in several different ways. These examples show some of the ways that you can use this function.

The Format() function can format a date string into one of several predefined formats. To format a date using one of these formats, specify the format string for outputFormat and specify Date for dataFormat.

This table lists the formats that are available in both Marketing Cloud Engagement and Marketing Cloud Next. Because the output value can vary based on the locale, this table includes example values for the en_US, fr_FR, and ja_JP locales.

You can format a date string using a custom format by passing a string that specifies the format. The strings that you use vary depending on whether you use Marketing Cloud Engagement or Marketing Cloud Next.

This example shows how to format the date to include the full name of the day (“dddd”), the full name of the month (“MMMM”), the date without a leading zero (“d”), and the year (“yyyy”). It also shows the time in 24-hour format, including hours, minutes, seconds, and UTC offset (“HH:mm:ss (zzz)”).

1%%[
2  Var @now, @dateString
3  Set @now = "5 August 2026 1:41:23 PM"
4  Set @dateString = Format(@now, "dddd, MMMM d yyy HH:mm:ss (zzz)", "Date", "en_US")
5]%%
6<p>Date and time with a custom format: %%=v(@dateString)=%%</p>

The function outputs the date and time using the format that you specified.

1Date and time with a custom format: Wednesday, August 5 2026 1:41:23 (-06:00)

You can use the cultureCode parameter to express day and month names in other languages. This example outputs the date using day and month names in Swahili.

1%%[
2  Var @now, @dateString
3  Set @now = "5 August 2026 1:41:23 PM"
4  Set @dateString = Format(@now, "ddddd, d MMMM yyyy", "date", "sw_KE")
5]%%
6<p>Date and time with a custom format: %%=v(@dateString)=%%</p>

The function outputs the date string with the appropriate values translated.

1Date and time with a custom format: Jumatano, 5 Agosti 2026

1%%[
2  Var @cost, @finalCostInDollars
3  Set @cost = "31.4159"
4  Set @finalCostInDollars = Format(@cost,"C2")
5]%%
6<p>The total price is %%=v(@finalCostInDollars)=%%.</p>

The function outputs the string expressed as a dollar amount rounded to two decimal places.

1The total price is $31.42.

You can use the cultureCode parameter to express currency values for a different country. This example outputs the currency value in Indian Rupees.

1%%[
2  Var @cost, @finalCostInRupees
3  Set @cost = "3141.5926535"
4  Set @finalCostInRupees = Format(@cost, "C0", "", "bn_IN")
5]%%
6<p>চূড়ান্ত মূল্য %%=v(@finalCostInRupees)=%%</p>

The function outputs the currency value expressed in Indian rupees, rounded to the nearest whole number.

1চূড়ান্ত মূল্য ₹ 3,142

• NumberFormatInfoClass Class on the Microsoft Developer Network
• DateTimeFormatInfo Class on the Microsoft Developer Network