Get-Date

Syntax

Get-Date   [[-Date] <DateTime>]   [-Year <Int32>]   [-Month <Int32>]   [-Day <Int32>]   [-Hour <Int32>]   [-Minute <Int32>]   [-Second <Int32>]   [-Millisecond <Int32>]   [-DisplayHint <DisplayHintType>]   [-Format <String>]   [<CommonParameters>]

Get-Date   [[-Date] <DateTime>]   [-Year <Int32>]   [-Month <Int32>]   [-Day <Int32>]   [-Hour <Int32>]   [-Minute <Int32>]   [-Second <Int32>]   [-Millisecond <Int32>]   [-DisplayHint <DisplayHintType>]   [-UFormat <String>]   [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Get-Date cmdlet gets a DateTime object that represents the current date or a date that youspecify. Get-Date can format the date and time in several .NET and UNIX formats. You can useGet-Date to generate a date or time character string, and then send the string to other cmdlets orprograms.

Get-Date uses the computer's culture settings to determine how the output is formatted. To viewyour computer's settings, use (Get-Culture).DateTimeFormat.

Examples

Example 1: Get the current date and time

In this example, Get-Date displays the current system date and time. The output is in thelong-date and long-time formats.

Get-DateTuesday, June 25, 2019 14:53:32

Example 2: Get elements of the current date and time

This example shows how to use Get-Date to get either the date or time element. The parameter usesthe arguments Date, Time, or DateTime.

Get-Date -DisplayHint DateTuesday, June 25, 2019

Get-Date uses the DisplayHint parameter with the Date argument to get only the date.

Example 3: Get the date and time with a .NET format specifier

In this example, a .NET format specifier is used to customize the output's format. The output is aString object.

Get-Date -Format "dddd MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm K"Tuesday 06/25/2019 16:17 -07:00

Get-Date uses the Format parameter to specify several format specifiers.

The .NET format specifiers used in this example are defined as follows:

For more information about .NET format specifiers, seeCustom date and time format strings.

Example 4: Get the date and time with a UFormat specifier

In this example, several UFormat format specifiers are used to customize the output's format.The output is a String object.

Get-Date -UFormat "%A %m/%d/%Y %R %Z"Tuesday 06/25/2019 16:19 -07

Get-Date uses the UFormat parameter to specify several format specifiers.

The UFormat format specifiers used in this example are defined as follows:

For a list of valid UFormat format specifiers, see the Notes section.

Example 5: Get a date's day of the year

In this example, a property is used to get the numeric day of the year.

The Gregorian calendar has 365 days, except for leap years that have 366 days. For example, December31, 2020 is day 366.

(Get-Date -Year 2020 -Month 12 -Day 31).DayOfYear366

Get-Date uses three parameters to specify the date: Year, Month, and Day. The commandis wrapped with parentheses so that the result is evaluated by the DayofYear property.

Example 6: Check if a date is adjusted for daylight savings time

This example uses a boolean method to verify if a date is adjusted by daylight savings time.

$DST = Get-Date$DST.IsDaylightSavingTime()True

A variable, $DST stores the result of Get-Date. $DST uses the IsDaylightSavingTime methodto test if the date is adjusted for daylight savings time.

Example 7: Convert the current time to UTC time

In this example, the current time is converted to UTC time. The UTC offset for the system's localeis used to convert the time. A table in the Notes section lists the valid UFormatformat specifiers.

Get-Date -UFormat "%A %B/%d/%Y %T %Z"$Time = Get-Date$Time.ToUniversalTime()Wednesday June/26/2019 10:45:26 -07Wednesday, June 26, 2019 17:45:26

Get-Date uses the UFormat parameter with format specifiers to display the current system dateand time. The format specifier %Z represents the UTC offset of -07.

The $Time variable stores the current system date and time. $Time uses the ToUniversalTime()method to convert the time based on the computer's UTC offset.

Example 8: Create a timestamp

In this example, a format specifier creates a timestamp String object for a directory name. Thetimestamp includes the date, time, and UTC offset.

$timestamp = Get-Date -Format o | ForEach-Object { $_ -replace ":", "." }New-Item -Path C:\Test\$timestamp -Type DirectoryDirectory: C:\TestMode                LastWriteTime         Length Name----                -------------         ------ ----d-----         6/27/2019    07:59                2019-06-27T07.59.24.4603750-07.00

The $timestamp variable stores the results of a Get-Date command. Get-Date uses the Formatparameter with the format specifier of lowercase o to create a timestamp String object. Theobject is sent down the pipeline to ForEach-Object. A ScriptBlock contains the $_ variablethat represents the current pipeline object. The timestamp string is delimited by colons that arereplaced by periods.

New-Item uses the Path parameter to specify the location for a new directory. The pathincludes the $timestamp variable as the directory name. The Type parameter specifies that adirectory is created.

Parameters

Inputs

Pipeline input

Get-Date accepts pipeline input. For example, Get-ChildItem | Get-Date.

Outputs

System.DateTime or System.String

Get-Date returns a DateTime object except when the Format and UFormat parameters areused. The Format or UFormat parameters return String objects.

When a DateTime object is sent down the pipeline to a cmdlet such as Add-Content that expectsstring input, PowerShell converts the object to a String object.

The method (Get-Date).ToString() converts a DateTime object a String object.

To display an object's properties and methods, send the object down the pipeline to Get-Member.For example, Get-Date | Get-Member.

Notes

DateTime objects are in long-date and long-time formats for the system locale.

The valid UFormat specifiers are displayed in the following table:

Related Links

• ForEach-Object
• Get-Culture
• Get-Member
• New-Item
• New-TimeSpan
• Set-Date