Format strings for DateTime/DateTimeOffset can be divided into two groups, based on whether they honor culture and format provider settings.
The following table lists Culture-sensitive date/time format strings.
Sample output uses the value of new DateTime (2000, 1, 2, 17, 18, 19);
| Format string | Meaning | Sample output |
|---|---|---|
| d | Short date | 01/02/2000 |
| D | Long date | Sunday, 02 January 2000 |
| t | Short time | 17:18 |
| T | Long time | 17:18:19 |
| f | Long date + short time | Sunday, 02 January 2000 17:18 |
| F | Long date + long time | Sunday, 02 January 2000 17:18:19 |
| g | Short date + short time | 01/02/2000 17:18 |
| G (default) | Short date + long time | 01/02/2000 17:18:19 |
| m, M | Month and day | 02 January |
| y, Y | Year and month | January 2000 |
The following table lists Culture-insensitive date/time format strings.
| Format string | Meaning | Sample output | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| o | Round- trippable | 2000-01-02T17:18:19.0000000 | Will append time zone information unless DateTime Kind is Unspecified |
| r, R | RFC 1123 standard | Sun, 02 Jan 2000 17:18:19 GMT | You must explicitly convert to UTC with DateTime.ToUni versalTime |
| s | Sortable; ISO 8601 | 2000-01-02T17:18:19 | Compatible with text-based sorting |
| u | "Universal" sortable | 2000-01-02 17:18:19Z | Similar to above; must explicitly convert to UTC |
| U | UTC | Sunday, 02 January 2000 17:18:19 | Long date + short time, converted to UTC |