Format DateTime.Now to yyyy-mm-dd

Question

I want to convert the DateTime.Now to the format of yyyy-mm-dd since that is the only format that i can use in my query that i want to include.
The default format of DateTime.Now looks like 5/1/2008 6:32:06 PM.
If i want to change the format of it to yyyyMMdd I could use this line of code:

var dateString1 = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd");

But, when i try the same for this yyyy-mm-dd format like below:

var dateString2 = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-mm-dd");

the result i get is wrong. For the following lines of code:

var dateString1 = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd");
var dateString2 = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-mm-dd");

Console.WriteLine("yyyyMMdd " + dateString1);
Console.WriteLine("yyyy-mm-dd "+ dateString2);

I get the following result:

which is wrong for the second case.
What am i missing?

`mm` is minutes. What you need is `MM` as in your first format. — uTeisT, Aug 08 '16 at 07:50
Does this answer your question? [How to convert any date format to yyyy-MM-dd](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12257483/how-to-convert-any-date-format-to-yyyy-mm-dd) — Yousha Aleayoub, Jan 12 '23 at 10:43

score 75 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 08 '16 at 07:50

According to msdn MM format specifier stands for month and mm - for minutes.

"mm" | The minute, from 00 through 59.

"MM" | The month, from 01 through 12.

So your code should look like the following:

    var dateString1 = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd");
    var dateString2 = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");

    Console.WriteLine("yyyyMMdd " + dateString1);
    Console.WriteLine("yyyy-MM-dd "+ dateString2);

And you will get the desired result

Bojan B · Answer 2 · 2016-08-08T07:55:34.303

20

    var dateString1 = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd");
    var dateString2 = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");

    Console.WriteLine("yyyyMMdd " + dateString1);
    Console.WriteLine("yyyy-MM-dd "+ dateString2);

You are using "mm" instead of "MM" in your second format. mm is for minutes, MM is for month.

edited Aug 08 '16 at 07:55

answered Aug 08 '16 at 07:47

Bojan B

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Thanks for your solution. This solved my problem but @Mikhail explained the reason so I accepted his answer and up voted yours, too. Thanks – etrupja Aug 08 '16 at 08:09

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 08 '16 at 07:48

5

Your miss is lower-case "m" in second format, that determine MINUTES, but you need "M" instead of "m" for MONTHS.

answered Aug 08 '16 at 07:48

Nigrimmist

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Format DateTime.Now to yyyy-mm-dd

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