How to format date in Linux?

You can use Linux date command with different FORMAT option to format the date in Linux.

Example:

Get date on Linux in default format:

## default
date                                  ## returns Sun, May 24, 2020  7:18:38 PM

1 2	## default date ## returns Sun, May 24, 2020 7:18:38 PM

Linux date FORMAT options with examples:

Get only three-letter day name in Linux:

## %a   locale's abbreviated weekday name (e.g., Sun)
date '+%a'                            ## returns Sun

1 2	## %a locale's abbreviated weekday name (e.g., Sun) date '+%a' ## returns Sun

Get only day name in Linux:

## %A   locale's full weekday name (e.g., Sunday)
date '+%A'                            ## returns Sunday

1 2	## %A locale's full weekday name (e.g., Sunday) date '+%A' ## returns Sunday

Get only three-letter month name in Linux:

## %b   locale's abbreviated month name (e.g., Jan)
date '+%b'                            ## returns May
## %h   same as %b
date '+%h'                            ## returns May

## %b locale's abbreviated month name (e.g., Jan)

date '+%b' ## returns May

## %h same as %b

date '+%h' ## returns May

Get only month name in Linux:

## %B   locale's full month name (e.g., January)
date '+%B'                            ## returns May

1 2	## %B locale's full month name (e.g., January) date '+%B' ## returns May

Get locale date and time in Linux:

## %c   locale's date and time (e.g., Thu Mar  3 23:05:25 2005)
date '+%c'                            ## returns Sun, May 24, 2020  7:41:45 PM

1 2	## %c locale's date and time (e.g., Thu Mar 3 23:05:25 2005) date '+%c' ## returns Sun, May 24, 2020 7:41:45 PM

Get first two digits of current year in Linux:

## %C   century; like %Y, except omit last two digits (e.g., 20)
date '+%C'                            ## returns 20

1 2	## %C century; like %Y, except omit last two digits (e.g., 20) date '+%C' ## returns 20

Get current day of month in Linux:

## %d   day of month (e.g., 01)
date '+%d'                            ## returns 24
## %e   day of month, space padded; same as %_d
date '+%e'                            ## returns 24

## %d day of month (e.g., 01)

date '+%d' ## returns 24

## %e day of month, space padded; same as %_d

date '+%e' ## returns 24

Get current date in mm/dd/yy format in Linux:

## %D   date; same as %m/%d/%y
date '+%D'                            ## returns 05/24/20

1 2	## %D date; same as %m/%d/%y date '+%D' ## returns 05/24/20

Get current date in yyyy-mm-dd format in Linux:

## %F   full date; same as %Y-%m-%d
date '+%F'                            ## returns 2020-05-24

1 2	## %F full date; same as %Y-%m-%d date '+%F' ## returns 2020-05-24

Get last two digits of current year in Linux:

## %g   last two digits of year of ISO week number 
date '+%g'                            ## returns 20

1 2	## %g last two digits of year of ISO week number date '+%g' ## returns 20

Get current hour in 24 hours format in Linux:

## %H   hour (00..23)
date '+%H'                            ## returns 19
## %k   hour, space padded ( 0..23); same as %_H
date '+%k'                            ## returns 19

## %H hour (00..23)

date '+%H' ## returns 19

## %k hour, space padded ( 0..23); same as %_H

date '+%k' ## returns 19

Get current hour in 12 hours format in Linux:

## %I   hour (01..12)
date '+%I'                            ## returns 07
## %l   hour, space padded ( 1..12); same as %_I
date '+%l'                            ## returns  7

## %I hour (01..12)

date '+%I' ## returns 07

## %l hour, space padded ( 1..12); same as %_I

date '+%l' ## returns 7

Get current day of year in Linux:

## %j   day of year (001..366)
date '+%j'                            ## returns 145

1 2	## %j day of year (001..366) date '+%j' ## returns 145

Get current month number in Linux:

## %m   month (01..12)
date '+%m'                            ## returns 05

1 2	## %m month (01..12) date '+%m' ## returns 05

Get current minute in Linux:

## %M   minute (00..59)
date '+%M'                            ## returns 52

## %n   a newline
date '+Year=%Y%nMonth=%m'             ## returns 
                                      ## Year=2020
                                      ## Month=05

## %M minute (00..59)

date '+%M' ## returns 52

## %n a newline

date '+Year=%Y%nMonth=%m' ## returns

## Year=2020

## Month=05

Get current nanoseconds in Linux:

## %N   nanoseconds (000000000..999999999)
date '+%N'                            ## returns 258026200

1 2	## %N nanoseconds (000000000..999999999) date '+%N' ## returns 258026200

Get current time with am pm in Linux:

## %p   locale's equivalent of either AM or PM; blank if not known
date '+%l %p'                         ## returns  7 PM
## %P   like %p, but lower case
date '+%l %P'                         ## returns  7 pm
## %r   locale's 12-hour clock time (e.g., 11:11:04 PM)
date '+%r'                            ## returns 7:56:55 PM

## %p locale's equivalent of either AM or PM; blank if not known

date '+%l %p' ## returns 7 PM

## %P like %p, but lower case

date '+%l %P' ## returns 7 pm

## %r locale's 12-hour clock time (e.g., 11:11:04 PM)

date '+%r' ## returns 7:56:55 PM

Get current hour minute in Linux:

## %R   24-hour hour and minute; same as %H:%M
date '+%R'                            ## returns 19:57

1 2	## %R 24-hour hour and minute; same as %H:%M date '+%R' ## returns 19:57

Get current time since epoch in Linux:

## %s   seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
date '+%s'                            ## 1590330464

1 2	## %s seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC date '+%s' ## 1590330464

Get current seconds in Linux:

## %S   second (00..60)
date '+%S'                            ## returns 10

1 2	## %S second (00..60) date '+%S' ## returns 10

Get current day of week in number in Linux:

## %u   day of week (1..7); 1 is Monday
date '+%u'                            ## returns 7

1 2	## %u day of week (1..7); 1 is Monday date '+%u' ## returns 7

Get current week number of year in Linux:

## %U   week number of year, with Sunday as first day of week (00..53)
date '+%U'                            ## returns 21
## %V   ISO week number, with Monday as first day of week (01..53)
date '+%V'                            ## returns 21
## %w   day of week (0..6); 0 is Sunday
date '+%w'                            ## returns 0
## %W   week number of year, with Monday as first day of week (00..53)
date '+%W'                            ## returns 20

## %U week number of year, with Sunday as first day of week (00..53)

date '+%U' ## returns 21

## %V ISO week number, with Monday as first day of week (01..53)

date '+%V' ## returns 21

## %w day of week (0..6); 0 is Sunday

date '+%w' ## returns 0

## %W week number of year, with Monday as first day of week (00..53)

date '+%W' ## returns 20

Get current year in Linux:

## %Y   year
date '+%Y'                            ## returns 2020

1 2	## %Y year date '+%Y' ## returns 2020

Get current date with timezone in Linux:

## %z   +hhmm numeric time zone (e.g., -0400)
date '+%z'                            ## returns +0530

## %:z  +hh:mm numeric time zone (e.g., -04:00)
date '+%:z'                           ## returns +05:30

## %::z  +hh:mm:ss numeric time zone (e.g., -04:00:00)
date '+%::z'                          ## returns +05:30:00

## %:::z  numeric time zone with : to necessary precision (e.g., -04, +05:30)
date '+%:::z'                         ## returns +05:30

## %Z   alphabetic time zone abbreviation (e.g., EDT)
date '+%Z'                            ## returns IST

## %z +hhmm numeric time zone (e.g., -0400)

date '+%z' ## returns +0530

## %:z +hh:mm numeric time zone (e.g., -04:00)

date '+%:z' ## returns +05:30

## %::z +hh:mm:ss numeric time zone (e.g., -04:00:00)

date '+%::z' ## returns +05:30:00

## %:::z numeric time zone with : to necessary precision (e.g., -04, +05:30)

date '+%:::z' ## returns +05:30

## %Z alphabetic time zone abbreviation (e.g., EDT)

date '+%Z' ## returns IST