The table below shows a list of the standard format characters. For each standard pattern, it shows the pattern from the current CultureInfo settings that the pattern represents. The format characters are case-sensitive; for example, 'f' and 'F' represent
different patterns.
| Format Character |
Description |
| d |
Short date pattern |
| D |
Long date pattern |
| f |
Full date and time (long date and short time) |
| F |
Full date time pattern (long date and long time) |
| g |
General (short date and short time) |
| G |
General (short date and long time) |
| m, M |
Month day pattern |
| r, R |
RFC1123 pattern |
| s |
Sortable date time pattern (based on ISO 8601) using local time |
| t |
Short time pattern |
| T |
Long time pattern |
| y |
Month year pattern |
The table below shows a list of patterns that can be combined to create date format patterns. The patterns are case-sensitive; for example, "MM" is recognized, but "mm" is not. If
the date format pattern contains white-space characters or characters enclosed in single quotation marks, the formatted string will also contain those characters. Characters not
defined as part of a format pattern or as format characters are reproduced literally.
| Format Pattern |
Description |
| d |
The day of the month. Single-digit days have no leading zero. (Only if used in the context of a longer pattern. A single "d" on its own represents the Short
date pattern.) |
| dd |
The day of the month. Single-digit days have a leading zero. |
| ddd |
The abbreviated name of the day of the week. |
| dddd |
The full name of the day of the week. |
| M |
The numeric month. Single-digit months have no leading zero. (Only if used in the context of a longer pattern. A single "M" on its own represents the Month day
pattern.) |
| MM |
The numeric month. Single-digit months have a leading zero. |
| MMM |
The abbreviated name of the month. |
| MMMM |
The full name of the month. |
| y |
The year without the century. If the year without the century is less than 10, with no leading zero. (Only if used in the context of a longer pattern. A single "y"
on its own represents the Month year pattern.) |
| yy |
the year without the century. If the year without the century is less than 10, with a leading zero. |
| yyy |
The year in four digits, including the century. |
| gg |
The period or era (e.g. "A.D."). This pattern is ignored if the date to be formatted does not have an associated period or era. |
| h |
The hour in a 12-hour clock. Single-digit hours have no leading zero. |
| hh |
The hour in a 12-hour clock. Single-digit hours have a leading zero. |
| H |
The hour in a 24-hour clock. Single-digit hours have no leading zero. |
| HH |
The hour in a 24-hour clock. Single-digit hours have a leading zero. |
| m |
The minute. Single-digit minutes have no leading zero. (Only if used in the context of a longer pattern. A single "m" on its own represents the Month day
pattern) |
| mm |
The minute. Single-digit minutes have a leading zero. |
| s |
The second. Single-digit seconds have no leading zero. (Only if used in the context of a longer pattern. A single "s" on its own represents the sortable time
pattern.) |
| ss |
The second. Single-digit seconds have a leading zero. |
| t |
The first character in the AM/PM designator. (Only if used in the context of a longer pattern. A single "t" on its own represents the short time pattern.) |
| tt |
The AM/PM designator. |