Get-Date

Reference

Module:: Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility

Gets the current date and time.

Syntax

Get-Date
   [[-Date] <DateTime>]
   [-Year <Int32>]
   [-Month <Int32>]
   [-Day <Int32>]
   [-Hour <Int32>]
   [-Minute <Int32>]
   [-Second <Int32>]
   [-Millisecond <Int32>]
   [-DisplayHint <DisplayHintType>]
   [-Format <String>]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Get-Date
   [[-Date] <DateTime>]
   [-Year <Int32>]
   [-Month <Int32>]
   [-Day <Int32>]
   [-Hour <Int32>]
   [-Minute <Int32>]
   [-Second <Int32>]
   [-Millisecond <Int32>]
   [-DisplayHint <DisplayHintType>]
   [-UFormat <String>]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Get-Date cmdlet gets a DateTime object that represents the current date or a date that you specify. Get-Date can format the date and time in several .NET and UNIX formats. You can use Get-Date to generate a date or time character string, and then send the string to other cmdlets or programs.

Get-Date uses the current culture settings of the operating system to determine how the output is formatted. To view your computer's settings, use (Get-Culture).DateTimeFormat.

Examples

Example 1: Get the current date and time

In this example, Get-Date displays the current system date and time. The output is in the long-date and long-time formats.

Get-Date

Tuesday, June 25, 2019 14:53:32

Example 2: Get elements of the current date and time

This example shows how to use Get-Date to get either the date or time element. The parameter uses the arguments Date, Time, or DateTime.

Get-Date -DisplayHint Date

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Get-Date uses the DisplayHint parameter with the Date argument to get only the date.

Example 3: Get the date and time with a .NET format specifier

In this example, a .NET format specifier is used to customize the output's format. The output is a String object.

Get-Date -Format "dddd MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm K"

Tuesday 06/25/2019 16:17 -07:00

Get-Date uses the Format parameter to specify several format specifiers.

The .NET format specifiers used in this example are defined as follows:

Specifier	Definition
`dddd`	Day of the week - full name
`MM`	Month number
`dd`	Day of the month - 2 digits
`yyyy`	Year in 4-digit format
`HH:mm`	Time in 24-hour format - no seconds
`K`	Time zone offset from Universal Time Coordinate (UTC)

For more information about .NET format specifiers, see Custom date and time format strings.

Example 4: Get the date and time with a UFormat specifier

In this example, several UFormat format specifiers are used to customize the output's format. The output is a String object.

Get-Date -UFormat "%A %m/%d/%Y %R %Z"

Tuesday 06/25/2019 16:19 -07

Get-Date uses the UFormat parameter to specify several format specifiers.

The UFormat format specifiers used in this example are defined as follows:

Specifier	Definition
`%A`	Day of the week - full name
`%m`	Month number
`%d`	Day of the month - 2 digits
`%Y`	Year in 4-digit format
`%R`	Time in 24-hour format - no seconds
`%Z`	Time zone offset from Universal Time Coordinate (UTC)

For a list of valid UFormat format specifiers, see the Notes section.

Example 5: Get a date's day of the year

In this example, a property is used to get the numeric day of the year.

The Gregorian calendar has 365 days, except for leap years that have 366 days. For example, December 31, 2020 is day 366.

(Get-Date -Year 2020 -Month 12 -Day 31).DayOfYear

366

Get-Date uses three parameters to specify the date: Year, Month, and Day. The command is wrapped with parentheses so that the result is evaluated by the DayofYear property.

Example 6: Check if a date is adjusted for daylight saving time

This example uses a boolean method to verify if a date is adjusted by daylight saving time.

$DST = Get-Date
$DST.IsDaylightSavingTime()

True

A variable, $DST stores the result of Get-Date. $DST uses the IsDaylightSavingTime method to test if the date is adjusted for daylight saving time.

Example 7: Convert the current time to UTC time

In this example, the current time is converted to UTC time. The UTC offset for the system's locale is used to convert the time. A table in the Notes section lists the valid UFormat format specifiers.

Get-Date -UFormat "%A %B/%d/%Y %T %Z"
$Time = Get-Date
$Time.ToUniversalTime()

Wednesday June/26/2019 10:45:26 -07

Wednesday, June 26, 2019 17:45:26

Get-Date uses the UFormat parameter with format specifiers to display the current system date and time. The format specifier %Z represents the UTC offset of -07.

The $Time variable stores the current system date and time. $Time uses the ToUniversalTime() method to convert the time based on the computer's UTC offset.

Example 8: Create a timestamp

In this example, a format specifier creates a timestamp String object for a directory name. The timestamp includes the date, time, and UTC offset.

$timestamp = Get-Date -Format o | ForEach-Object { $_ -replace ":", "." }
New-Item -Path C:\Test\$timestamp -Type Directory

Directory: C:\Test

Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                -------------         ------ ----
d-----         6/27/2019    07:59                2019-06-27T07.59.24.4603750-07.00

The $timestamp variable stores the results of a Get-Date command. Get-Date uses the Format parameter with the format specifier of lowercase o to create a timestamp String object. The object is sent down the pipeline to ForEach-Object. A ScriptBlock contains the $_ variable that represents the current pipeline object. The timestamp string is delimited by colons that are replaced by periods.

New-Item uses the Path parameter to specify the location for a new directory. The path includes the $timestamp variable as the directory name. The Type parameter specifies that a directory is created.

Example 9: Show invariant culture

The ToString() converts a DateTime object a String using the current culture setting. However, PowerShell expression interpretation always uses the invariant culture setting.

For example, on a system with the en-US culture in effect, the ToString() method formats the date using the en-US culture settings.

# Get date using current culture en-US
(Get-Date 2024-03-19).ToString()

3/19/2024 12:00:00 AM

# Get date using invariant culture
"$(Get-Date 2024-03-19)"

03/19/2024 00:00:00

Parameters

-Date

Specifies a date and time. Time is optional and if not specified, returns 00:00:00. Enter the date and time in a format that is standard for the currently selected locale. You can change the current locale using the Set-Culture cmdlet.

For example, in US English:

Get-Date -Date "6/25/2019 12:30:22" returns Tuesday, June 25, 2019 12:30:22

Type:	DateTime
Aliases:	LastWriteTime
Position:	0
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Day

Specifies the day of the month that is displayed. Enter a value from 1 to 31.

If the specified value is greater than the number of days in a month, PowerShell adds the number of days to the month. For example, Get-Date -Month 4 -Day 31 displays May 1, not April 31.

Type:	Int32
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-DisplayHint

Determines which elements of the date and time are displayed.

The accepted values are as follows:

Date: displays only the date
Time: displays only the time
DateTime: displays the date and time

Type:	DisplayHintType
Accepted values:	Date, Time, DateTime
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Format

Displays the date and time in the Microsoft .NET Framework format indicated by the format specifier. The Format parameter outputs a String object.

For a list of available .NET format specifiers, see Custom date and time format strings.

When the Format parameter is used, Get-Date only gets the DateTime object's properties necessary to display the date. As a result, some of the properties and methods of DateTime objects might not be available.

Starting in PowerShell 5.0, you can use the following additional formats as values for the Format parameter.

FileDate. A file or path-friendly representation of the current date in local time. The format is yyyyMMdd (case-sensitive, using a 4-digit year, 2-digit month, and 2-digit day). For example: 20190627.
FileDateUniversal. A file or path-friendly representation of the current date in universal time (UTC). The format is yyyyMMddZ (case-sensitive, using a 4-digit year, 2-digit month, 2-digit day, and the letter Z as the UTC indicator). For example: 20190627Z.
FileDateTime. A file or path-friendly representation of the current date and time in local time, in 24-hour format. The format is yyyyMMddTHHmmssffff (case-sensitive, using a 4-digit year, 2-digit month, 2-digit day, the letter T as a time separator, 2-digit hour, 2-digit minute, 2-digit second, and 4-digit millisecond). For example: 20190627T0840107271.
FileDateTimeUniversal. A file or path-friendly representation of the current date and time in universal time (UTC), in 24-hour format. The format is yyyyMMddTHHmmssffffZ (case-sensitive, using a 4-digit year, 2-digit month, 2-digit day, the letter T as a time separator, 2-digit hour, 2-digit minute, 2-digit second, 4-digit millisecond, and the letter Z as the UTC indicator). For example: 20190627T1540500718Z.

Type:	String
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Hour

Specifies the hour that is displayed. Enter a value from 0 to 23.

Type:	Int32
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Millisecond

Specifies the milliseconds in the date. Enter a value from 0 to 999.

This parameter was introduced in PowerShell 3.0.

Type:	Int32
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Minute

Specifies the minute that is displayed. Enter a value from 0 to 59.

Type:	Int32
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Month

Specifies the month that is displayed. Enter a value from 1 to 12.

Type:	Int32
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Second

Specifies the second that is displayed. Enter a value from 0 to 59.

Type:	Int32
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-UFormat

Displays the date and time in UNIX format. The UFormat parameter outputs a string object.

UFormat specifiers are preceded by a percent sign (%), for example, %m, %d, and %Y. The Notes section contains a table of valid UFormat specifiers.

Type:	String
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Year

Specifies the year that is displayed. Enter a value from 1 to 9999.

Type:	Int32
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

Inputs

DateTime

You can pipe a DateTime object to this cmdlet.

Outputs

DateTime

By default, this cmdlet returns a DateTime object.

When a DateTime object is sent down the pipeline to a cmdlet such as Add-Content that expects string input, PowerShell converts the object to a String object.

The ToString() converts a DateTime object to a String using the current culture setting. However, PowerShell expression interpretation always uses the invariant culture setting. To see how invariant culture is different, see Example 9.

To display an object's properties and methods, send the object down the pipeline to Get-Member. For example, Get-Date | Get-Member.

String

When you use the Format or UFormat parameters, this cmdlet returns String objects.

Notes

The default formats for the output of DateTime objects are long-date and long-time formats for the currently selected locale.

The valid UFormat specifiers are displayed in the following table:

Important

UFormat specifiers are changed or added in newer versions of PowerShell. For example, %F was added in PowerShell 6.2, so it isn't available in Windows PowerShell 5.1 or older. Keep this in mind when using UFormat specifiers in scripts designed to be run on multiple versions of PowerShell.

Format specifier	Meaning	Example
`%A`	Day of the week - full name	Monday
`%a`	Day of the week - abbreviated name	Mon
`%B`	Month name - full	January
`%b`	Month name - abbreviated	Jan
`%C`	Century	20 for 2019
`%c`	Date and time - abbreviated	Thu Jun 27 08:44:18 2019
`%D`	Date in mm/dd/yy format	06/27/19
`%d`	Day of the month - 2 digits	05
`%e`	Day of the month - preceded by a space if only a single digit	<space>5
`%G`	Same as 'Y'
`%g`	Same as 'y'
`%H`	Hour in 24-hour format	17
`%h`	Same as 'b'
`%I`	Hour in 12-hour format	05
`%j`	Day of the year (does not include leading `0` - Fixed in PowerShell 6+)	1-366
`%k`	Same as 'H'
`%l`	Same as 'I' (Upper-case I)	05
`%M`	Minutes	35
`%m`	Month number	06
`%n`	newline character
`%p`	AM or PM
`%R`	Time in 24-hour format -no seconds	17:45
`%r`	Time in 12-hour format	09:15:36 AM
`%S`	Seconds	05
`%s`	Seconds elapsed since January 1, 1970 00:00:00 (converted to local time)	1150451174.95705
`%t`	Horizontal tab character
`%T`	Time in 24-hour format	17:45:52
`%U`	Same as 'W'
`%u`	Day of the week - number	Sunday = 0
`%V`	Week of the year	01-53
`%w`	Same as 'u'
`%W`	Week of the year	00-52
`%X`	Same as 'T'
`%x`	Date in standard format for locale	06/27/19 for English-US
`%Y`	Year in 4-digit format	2019
`%y`	Year in 2-digit format	19
`%Z`	Time zone offset from Universal Time Coordinate (UTC)	-07

Note

Windows PowerShell's behavior with Get-Date -UFormat %s is incorrect in two respects:

The return value is based on local time instead of UTC time.
The string representation of the seconds value has a fractional part. The output is culture-sensitive with respect to the decimal mark.

These behaviors have been fixed in PowerShell 6 and higher.

Share via

Get-Date

Syntax

Description

Examples

Example 1: Get the current date and time

Example 2: Get elements of the current date and time

Example 3: Get the date and time with a .NET format specifier

Example 4: Get the date and time with a UFormat specifier

Example 5: Get a date's day of the year

Example 6: Check if a date is adjusted for daylight saving time

Example 7: Convert the current time to UTC time

Example 8: Create a timestamp

Example 9: Show invariant culture

Parameters

-Date

-Day

-DisplayHint

-Format

-Hour

-Millisecond

-Minute

-Month

-Second

-UFormat

-Year

Inputs

Outputs

Notes

Additional resources

Share via

Get-Date

Syntax

Description

Examples

Example 1: Get the current date and time

Example 2: Get elements of the current date and time

Example 3: Get the date and time with a .NET format specifier

Example 4: Get the date and time with a UFormat specifier

Example 5: Get a date's day of the year

Example 6: Check if a date is adjusted for daylight saving time

Example 7: Convert the current time to UTC time

Example 8: Create a timestamp

Example 9: Show invariant culture

Parameters

-Date

-Day

-DisplayHint

-Format

-Hour

-Millisecond

-Minute

-Month

-Second

-UFormat

-Year

Inputs

Outputs

Notes

Related Links

Additional resources