MySQL has a number of functions that allow you to format the date and time. These include functions such as DATE_FORMAT() and TIME_FORMAT().
When using these functions, you provide arguments that tell it what format you’d like the date or time to be in. These arguments are called format specifiers, and they begin with a percentage sign (%) followed by a character (usually a letter, but not always).
The following table lists the format specifiers that can be used when formatting the date and time in MySQL.
| Specifier | Description |
|---|---|
%a |
Abbreviated weekday name (Sun..Sat) |
%b |
Abbreviated month name (Jan..Dec) |
%c |
Month, numeric (0..12) |
%D |
Day of the month with English suffix (0th,1st, 2nd,3rd, …) |
%d |
Day of the month, numeric (00..31) |
%e |
Day of the month, numeric (0..31) |
%f |
Microseconds (000000..999999) |
%H |
Hour (00..23) |
%h |
Hour (01..12) |
%I |
Hour (01..12) |
%i |
Minutes, numeric (00..59) |
%j |
Day of year (001..366) |
%k |
Hour (0..23) |
%l |
Hour (1..12) |
%M |
Month name (January..December) |
%m |
Month, numeric (00..12) |
%p |
AM or PM |
%r |
Time, 12-hour (hh:mm:ss followed byAM or PM) |
%S |
Seconds (00..59) |
%s |
Seconds (00..59) |
%T |
Time, 24-hour (hh:mm:ss) |
%U |
Week (00..53), where Sunday is the first day of the week; WEEK() mode 0 |
%u |
Week (00..53), where Monday is the first day of the week; WEEK() mode 1 |
%V |
Week (01..53), where Sunday is the first day of the week; WEEK() mode 2; used with %X |
%v |
Week (01..53), where Monday is the first day of the week; WEEK() mode 3; used with %x |
%W |
Weekday name (Sunday..Saturday) |
%w |
Day of the week (0=Sunday..6=Saturday) |
%X |
Year for the week where Sunday is the first day of the week, numeric, four digits; used with %V |
%x |
Year for the week, where Monday is the first day of the week, numeric, four digits; used with %v |
%Y |
Year, numeric, four digits |
%y |
Year, numeric (two digits) |
%% |
A literal % character |
% |
x, for any x not listed above |