Get-Date

SYNOPSIS

Gets the current date and time.

SYNTAX

DateAndFormat (Default)

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

DateAndUFormat

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

UnixTimeSecondsAndUFormat

Get-Date -UnixTimeSeconds <Int64> [-Year <Int32>] [-Month <Int32>] [-Day <Int32>] [-Hour <Int32>]
 [-Minute <Int32>] [-Second <Int32>] [-Millisecond <Int32>] [-DisplayHint <DisplayHintType>] -UFormat <String>
 [-AsUTC] [<CommonParameters>]

UnixTimeSecondsAndFormat

Get-Date -UnixTimeSeconds <Int64> [-Year <Int32>] [-Month <Int32>] [-Day <Int32>] [-Hour <Int32>]
 [-Minute <Int32>] [-Second <Int32>] [-Millisecond <Int32>] [-DisplayHint <DisplayHintType>] [-Format <String>]
 [-AsUTC] [<CommonParameters>]

DESCRIPTION

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

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

EXAMPLES

Example 1: Get the current date and time

Get-Date

Tuesday, June 25, 2019 14:53:32

Example 2: Get elements of the current date and time

Get-Date -DisplayHint Date

Tuesday, 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

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:

| Specifier | Definition | | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | `dddd` | Day of the week - full name | | `MM` | Month number | | `dd` | Day of the month - 2 digits | | `yyyy` | Year in 4-digit format | | `HH:mm` | Time in 24-hour format - no seconds | | `K` | Time zone offset from Universal Time Coordinate (UTC) |

For more information about .NET format specifiers, see Custom date and time format strings (/dotnet/standard/base-types/custom-date-and-time-format-strings?view=netframework-4.8).

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

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:

| Specifier | Definition | | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | `%A` | Day of the week - full name | | `%m` | Month number | | `%d` | Day of the month - 2 digits | | `%Y` | Year in 4-digit format | | `%R` | Time in 24-hour format - no seconds | | `%Z` | Time zone offset from Universal Time Coordinate (UTC) |

For a list of valid UFormat format specifiers, see the Notes (#notes)section.

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

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

366

`Get-Date` uses three parameters to specify the date: Year , Month , and Day . The command is 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

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

True

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

Example 7: Convert the current time to UTC time

Get-Date -UFormat "%A %B/%d/%Y %T %Z"
$Time = Get-Date
$Time.ToUniversalTime()

Wednesday June/26/2019 10:45:26 -07

Wednesday, June 26, 2019 17:45:26

`Get-Date` uses the UFormat parameter with format specifiers to display the current system date and 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

$timestamp = Get-Date -Format o | ForEach-Object { $_ -replace ":", "." }
New-Item -Path C:\Test\$timestamp -Type Directory

Directory: C:\Test

Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                -------------         ------ ----
d-----         6/27/2019    07:59                2019-06-27T07.59.24.4603750-07.00

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

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

Example 9: Convert a Unix timestamp

Get-Date -UnixTimeSeconds 1577836800

Wednesday, January 01, 2020 12:00:00 AM

Example 10: Return a date value interpreted as UTC

PS> Get-TimeZone

Id                         : Pacific Standard Time
DisplayName                : (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
StandardName               : Pacific Standard Time
DaylightName               : Pacific Daylight Time
BaseUtcOffset              : -08:00:00
SupportsDaylightSavingTime : True

PS> (Get-Date -Date "2020-01-01T00:00:00").Kind
Unspecified

PS> Get-Date -Date "2020-01-01T00:00:00"

Wednesday, January 1, 2020 12:00:00 AM

PS> (Get-Date -Date "2020-01-01T00:00:00" -AsUTC).Kind
Utc

PS> Get-Date -Date "2020-01-01T00:00:00" -AsUTC

Wednesday, January 1, 2020 8:00:00 AM

PARAMETERS

-AsUTC

Converts the date value to the equivalent time in UTC.

This parameter was introduced in PowerShell 7.1.

Type: System.Management.Automation.SwitchParameter
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: False
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Date

Specifies a date and time. Time is optional and if not specified, returns 00:00:00.

Enter the date and time in a format that is standard for the system locale.

For example, in US English:

`Get-Date -Date "6/25/2019 12:30:22"` returns Tuesday, June 25, 2019 12:30:22

Type: System.DateTime
Parameter Sets: DateAndFormat, DateAndUFormat
Aliases: LastWriteTime

Required: False
Position: 0
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName, ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Day

Specifies the day of the month that is displayed. Enter a value from 1 to 31.

If the specified value is greater than the number of days in a month, PowerShell adds the number of days to the month. For example, `Get-Date -Month 2 -Day 31` displays March 3 , not February 31 .

Type: System.Int32
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-DisplayHint

Determines which elements of the date and time are displayed.

The accepted values are as follows:

Date : displays only the date - Time : displays only the time - DateTime : displays the date and time

Type: Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.DisplayHintType
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:
Accepted values: Date, Time, DateTime

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Format

Displays the date and time in the Microsoft .NET Framework format indicated by the format specifier. The Format parameter outputs a String object.

For a list of available .NET format specifiers, see Custom date and time format strings (/dotnet/standard/base-types/custom-date-and-time-format-strings?view=netframework-4.8).

When the Format parameter is used, `Get-Date` only gets the DateTime object's properties necessary to display the date. As a result, some of the properties and methods of DateTime objects might not be available.

Starting in PowerShell 5.0, you can use the following additional formats as values for the Format parameter.

FileDate . A file or path-friendly representation of the current date in local time. The format is `yyyyMMdd` (case-sensitive, using a 4-digit year, 2-digit month, and 2-digit day). For example: 20190627.
FileDateUniversal . A file or path-friendly representation of the current date in universal time (UTC). The format is `yyyyMMddZ` (case-sensitive, using a 4-digit year, 2-digit month, 2-digit day, and the letter `Z` as the UTC indicator). For example: 20190627Z.
FileDateTime . A file or path-friendly representation of the current date and time in local time, in 24-hour format. The format is `yyyyMMddTHHmmssffff` (case-sensitive, using a 4-digit year, 2-digit month, 2-digit day, the letter `T` as a time separator, 2-digit hour, 2-digit minute, 2-digit second, and 4-digit millisecond). For example: 20190627T0840107271.
FileDateTimeUniversal . A file or path-friendly representation of the current date and time in universal time (UTC), in 24-hour format. The format is `yyyyMMddTHHmmssffffZ` (case-sensitive, using a 4-digit year, 2-digit month, 2-digit day, the letter `T` as a time separator, 2-digit hour, 2-digit minute, 2-digit second, 4-digit millisecond, and the letter `Z` as the UTC indicator). For example: 20190627T1540500718Z.

Type: System.String
Parameter Sets: DateAndFormat, UnixTimeSecondsAndFormat
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Hour

Specifies the hour that is displayed. Enter a value from 0 to 23.

Type: System.Int32
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Millisecond

Specifies the milliseconds in the date. Enter a value from 0 to 999.

This parameter was introduced in PowerShell 3.0.

Type: System.Int32
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Minute

Specifies the minute that is displayed. Enter a value from 0 to 59.

Type: System.Int32
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Month

Specifies the month that is displayed. Enter a value from 1 to 12.

Type: System.Int32
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Second

Specifies the second that is displayed. Enter a value from 0 to 59.

Type: System.Int32
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-UFormat

Displays the date and time in UNIX format. The UFormat parameter outputs a string object. UFormat specifiers are preceded by a percent sign (`%`), for example, `%m`, `%d`, and `%Y`. The Notes (#notes)section contains a table of valid UFormat specifiers .

When the UFormat parameter is used, `Get-Date` only gets the DateTime object's properties necessary to display the date. As a result, some of the properties and methods of DateTime objects might not be available.

Type: System.String
Parameter Sets: DateAndUFormat, UnixTimeSecondsAndUFormat
Aliases:

Required: True
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-UnixTimeSeconds

Date and time represented in seconds since January 1, 1970, 0:00:00.

This parameter was introduced in PowerShell 7.1.

Type: System.Int64
Parameter Sets: UnixTimeSecondsAndUFormat, UnixTimeSecondsAndFormat
Aliases: UnixTime

Required: True
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Year

Specifies the year that is displayed. Enter a value from 1 to 9999.

Type: System.Int32
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

CommonParameters

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -InformationAction, -InformationVariable, -OutVariable, -OutBuffer, -PipelineVariable, -Verbose, -WarningAction, and -WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters.

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 are used. 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 expects string 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:

| Format specifier | Meaning | Example | | ---- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------ | | `%A` | Day of the week - full name | Monday | | `%a` | Day of the week - abbreviated name | Mon | | `%B` | Month name - full | January | | `%b` | Month name - abbreviated | Jan | | `%C` | Century | 20 for 2019 | | `%c` | Date and time - abbreviated | Thu Jun 27 08:44:18 2019 | | `%D` | Date in mm/dd/yy format | 06/27/19 | | `%d` | Day of the month - 2 digits | 05 | | `%e` | Day of the month - preceded by a space if only a single digit | \<space>5 | | `%F` | Date in YYYY-mm-dd format, equal to %Y-%m-%d (the ISO 8601 date format) | 2019-06-27 | | `%G` | Same as 'Y' | | | `%g` | Same as 'y' | | | `%H` | Hour in 24-hour format | 17 | | `%h` | Same as 'b' | | | `%I` | Hour in 12-hour format | 05 | | `%j` | Day of the year | 1-366 | | `%k` | Same as 'H' | | | `%l` | Same as 'I' (Upper-case I) | 05 | | `%M` | Minutes | 35 | | `%m` | Month number | 06 | | `%n` | newline character | | | `%p` | AM or PM | | | `%R` | Time in 24-hour format -no seconds | 17:45 | | `%r` | Time in 12-hour format | 09:15:36 AM | | `%S` | Seconds | 05 | | `%s` | Seconds elapsed since January 1, 1970 00:00:00 | 1150451174 | | `%t` | Horizontal tab character | | | `%T` | Time in 24-hour format | 17:45:52 | | `%U` | Same as 'W' | | | `%u` | Day of the week - number | Sunday = 0 | | `%V` | Week of the year | 01-53 | | `%w` | Same as 'u' | | | `%W` | Week of the year | 00-52 | | `%X` | Same as 'T' | | | `%x` | Date in standard format for locale | 06/27/19 for English-US | | `%Y` | Year in 4-digit format | 2019 | | `%y` | Year in 2-digit format | 19 | | `%Z` | Time zone offset from Universal Time Coordinate (UTC) | -07 |