How to format Date and Time in Java

In this article, you’ll learn how to format Date and Time represented using Date, LocalDate, LocalDateTime, or ZonedDateTime to a readable String in Java.

Format LocalDate using DateTimeFormatter

package com.callicoder;

import java.time.LocalDate;
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;

public class LocalDateFormatExample {
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        
        DateTimeFormatter dateTimeFormatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("dd/MM/yyyy");

        LocalDate localDate = LocalDate.of(2020, 06, 15);

        System.out.println(localDate.format(dateTimeFormatter));
    }
}

Output

15/06/2020

Format LocalDateTime using DateTimeFormatter

package com.callicoder;

import java.time.LocalDateTime;
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;

public class LocalDateTimeFormatExample {
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        
        DateTimeFormatter dateTimeFormatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("E, MMM dd yyyy, hh:mm:ss a");

        LocalDateTime localDateTime = LocalDateTime.of(2020, 1, 31, 10, 45, 30);

        System.out.println(localDateTime.format(dateTimeFormatter));

    }
}

Output

星期一, 六月 15 2020, 02:26:36 下午

Format ZonedDateTime using DateTimeFormatter

package com.callicoder;

import java.time.LocalDateTime;
import java.time.ZoneId;
import java.time.ZonedDateTime;
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;

public class ZonedDateTimeFormatExample {
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        
        DateTimeFormatter dateTimeFormatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("E, MMM dd yyyy, hh:mm:ss a (VV)");
        
        ZonedDateTime zonedDateTime = ZonedDateTime.of(
            LocalDateTime.of(2020, 06, 16, 09, 52, 46),
            ZoneId.of("America/New_York"));
        
        System.out.println(zonedDateTime.format(dateTimeFormatter));
    }
}

Output

星期二, 六月 16 2020, 10:04:46 上午 (America/New_York)

Format Date and Time using SimpleDateFormat

package com.callicoder;

import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Date;

public class DateFormatExample {
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        
        SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy");
        
        Date date = new Date();
        
        System.out.println(sdf.format(date));
    }
}

Output

16/06/2020

Let’s see another example with a more complex pattern:

package com.callicoder;

import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.Date;

public class DateFormatExample {
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        
        SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("E, MMM dd yyyy, hh:mm:ss a");
        
        Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
        calendar.set(2020, 05, 16, 10, 16, 46);
        
        Date date = calendar.getTime();
        
        System.out.println(sdf.format(date));
    }
}

Output

星期二, 六月 16 2020, 10:16:46 上午