Edit

Share via

SET DATEFIRST (Transact-SQL)

  • Article

Applies to: SQL Server Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance Azure Synapse Analytics Analytics Platform System (PDW)

Sets the first day of the week to a number from 1 through 7.

For an overview of all Transact-SQL date and time data types and functions, see Date and Time Data Types and Functions (Transact-SQL).

Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

Syntax for SQL Server and Azure SQL Database

SET DATEFIRST { number | @number_var }

Syntax for Azure Synapse Analytics and Parallel Data Warehouse

SET DATEFIRST 7 ;

Arguments

number | @number_var

Is an integer that indicates the first day of the week. It can be one of the following values.

Value First day of the week is
1 Monday
2 Tuesday
3 Wednesday
4 Thursday
5 Friday
6 Saturday
7 (default, U.S. English) Sunday

Remarks

To see the current setting of SET DATEFIRST, use the @@DATEFIRST function.

The setting of SET DATEFIRST is set at execute or run time and not at parse time.

Specifying SET DATEFIRST has no effect on DATEDIFF. DATEDIFF always uses Sunday as the first day of the week to ensure the function is deterministic.

Like all SET Statements, SET DATEFIRST affects the current session.

Permissions

Requires membership in the public role.

Examples

The following example displays the day of the week for a date value and shows the effects of changing the DATEFIRST setting.

-- SET DATEFIRST to U.S. English default value of 7.  
SET DATEFIRST 7;  
  
SELECT CAST('1999-1-1' AS datetime2) AS SelectDate  
    ,DATEPART(dw, '1999-1-1') AS DayOfWeek;  
-- January 1, 1999 is a Friday. Because the U.S. English default   
-- specifies Sunday as the first day of the week, DATEPART of 1999-1-1  
-- (Friday) yields a value of 6, because Friday is the sixth day of the   
-- week when you start with Sunday as day 1.  
  
SET DATEFIRST 3;  
-- Because Wednesday is now considered the first day of the week,  
-- DATEPART now shows that 1999-1-1 (a Friday) is the third day of the   
-- week. The following DATEPART function should return a value of 3.  
SELECT CAST('1999-1-1' AS datetime2) AS SelectDate  
    ,DATEPART(dw, '1999-1-1') AS DayOfWeek;  
GO

Related content