Format string

Output

06/18/2026 01:45 PM

Reference time: 2026-06-18 13:45:30 (UTC, naive)

Python

from datetime import datetime
datetime.now().strftime("%m/%d/%Y %I:%M %p")

Common formats

Datetime

Time zone

Locale

Click or type any directive to insert it.

%Y	Year with century as a decimal number.	2026
%y	Year without century, zero-padded (00–99).	26
%-yplatform-specific	Year without century, no leading zero. Platform-specific (Linux/macOS).	26
%G	ISO 8601 week-based year. Use with %V and %u, never with %Y.	2026

%m	Month as a zero-padded number (01–12).	06
%B	Full month name in the current locale.	June
%b	Abbreviated month name in the current locale.	Jun
%-mplatform-specific	Month with no leading zero. Platform-specific (Linux/macOS).	6
%h	Equivalent to %b (abbreviated month name).	Jun

%d	Day of the month, zero-padded (01–31).	18
%-dplatform-specific	Day of the month with no leading zero. Platform-specific (Linux/macOS).	18
%j	Day of the year, zero-padded (001–366).	169
%-jplatform-specific	Day of the year with no leading zero. Platform-specific (Linux/macOS).	169

%A	Full weekday name in the current locale.	Thursday
%a	Abbreviated weekday name in the current locale.	Thu
%w	Weekday as a decimal number, 0=Sunday … 6=Saturday.	4
%u	Weekday as a decimal number, 1=Monday … 7=Sunday (ISO 8601).	4

%H	Hour (24-hour clock), zero-padded (00–23).	13
%I	Hour (12-hour clock), zero-padded (01–12).	01
%p	Locale’s equivalent of AM or PM.	PM
%M	Minute, zero-padded (00–59).	45
%S	Second, zero-padded (00–59; up to 61 historically for leap seconds).	30
%-Hplatform-specific	24-hour hour with no leading zero. Platform-specific (Linux/macOS).	13
%-Iplatform-specific	12-hour hour with no leading zero. Platform-specific (Linux/macOS).	1
%-Mplatform-specific	Minute with no leading zero. Platform-specific (Linux/macOS).	45
%-Splatform-specific	Second with no leading zero. Platform-specific (Linux/macOS).	30
%f	Microsecond as a decimal number, zero-padded to 6 digits (000000–999999).	000000

%z	UTC offset as ±HHMM (empty if the datetime is naive).
%Z	Time zone name or abbreviation (empty if the datetime is naive).

%U	Week of the year, Sunday as the first day (00–53). Days before the first Sunday are week 0.	24
%W	Week of the year, Monday as the first day (00–53). Days before the first Monday are week 0.	24
%V	ISO 8601 week number (01–53). Use with %G and %u.	25

%c	Locale’s appropriate date and time representation.	Jun 18, 2026, 1:45:30 PM
%x	Locale’s appropriate date representation.	6/18/26
%X	Locale’s appropriate time representation.	1:45:30 PM

A literal “%” character.

Frequently asked questions

What is Python's strftime?: datetime.strftime(format) turns a date/time object into a string using directives like %Y (year) and %H (hour). The reverse, parsing a string into a datetime, is strptime — try strptime.dev.
Why are %z and %Z empty?: A naive datetime has no time-zone info, so those directives produce an empty string. Switch the Datetime control to Aware to see an offset and zone name.
What does %-d do?: It prints the day with no leading zero (6 instead of 06). The - modifier is platform-specific (Linux/macOS) and is not available on Windows.
How do I get the leading zero off the hour or month?: Use %-H, %-m, etc. on Linux/macOS, or strip it in Python with str(int(...)) for portability.

Python strftime() format tester and directive reference