How to Get Current Date & Time in Python

You can use now() function of datetime python module. This tutorial will show you various ways to get the current date and time in the python script. Below example scripts to get date and time has been tested with Python 2.7 and Python 3.5 on Linux system.

Get Current Date Time in Python

By default now() function returns output in YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS:MS format. Use below sample script to get current date and time in Python script and print results on screen. Create file getDateTime1.py with below content.

import datetime currentDT = datetime.datetime.now() print (str(currentDT))1234import datetime currentDT = datetime.datetime.now()print (str(currentDT))

Let’s execute the script getDateTime1.py as following command.

python getDateTime1.py 

2017-03-06 16:00:04.159338

Get Current Date Time Attributes in Python

You can also get the specific attribute of date and time. For example, if you want to get only current year or month or date etc. create a getDateTime2.py file with following content, which will help you to understand to fetch specific attribute.

import datetime currentDT = datetime.datetime.now() print ("Current Year is: %d" % currentDT.year) print ("Current Month is: %d" % currentDT.month) print ("Current Day is: %d" % currentDT.day) print ("Current Hour is: %d" % currentDT.hour) print ("Current Minute is: %d" % currentDT.minute) print ("Current Second is: %d" % currentDT.second) print ("Current Microsecond is: %d" % currentDT.microsecond)1234567891011import datetime currentDT = datetime.datetime.now() print ("Current Year is: %d" % currentDT.year)print ("Current Month is: %d" % currentDT.month)print ("Current Day is: %d" % currentDT.day)print ("Current Hour is: %d" % currentDT.hour)print ("Current Minute is: %d" % currentDT.minute)print ("Current Second is: %d" % currentDT.second)print ("Current Microsecond is: %d" % currentDT.microsecond)

Now, execute script getDateTime2.py like below

python getDateTime2.py 

Current Year is: 2017
Current Month is: 3
Current Day is: 6
Current Hour is: 16
Current Minute is: 6
Current Second is: 28

Get Formated Date Time in Python

Also, if you need date and time in a specific format, you can specify directive to format date and time. Create getDateTime3.py file with following content. This example has some sample formatted date and time outputs.

import datetime currentDT = datetime.datetime.now() print (currentDT.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")) print (currentDT.strftime("%Y/%m/%d")) print (currentDT.strftime("%H:%M:%S")) print (currentDT.strftime("%I:%M:%S %p")) print (currentDT.strftime("%a, %b %d, %Y"))123456789import datetime currentDT = datetime.datetime.now() print (currentDT.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"))print (currentDT.strftime("%Y/%m/%d"))print (currentDT.strftime("%H:%M:%S"))print (currentDT.strftime("%I:%M:%S %p"))print (currentDT.strftime("%a, %b %d, %Y"))

Now execute getDateTime3.py from command line

python getDateTime3.py 

2017-03-06 16:13:59
2017/03/06
16:13:59
04:13:59 PM
Mon, Mar 06, 2017

Below is the list of directives can be used to format date and time output in your Python script.

DirectiveMeaning%aLocale’s abbreviated weekday name.%ALocale’s full weekday name.%bLocale’s abbreviated month name.%BLocale’s full month name.%cLocale’s appropriate date and time representation.%dDay of the month as a decimal number [01,31].%HHour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number [00,23].%IHour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number [01,12].%jDay of the year as a decimal number [001,366].%mMonth as a decimal number [01,12].%MMinute as a decimal number [00,59].%pLocale’s equivalent of either AM or PM.%SSecond as a decimal number [00,61].%UWeek number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number [00,53]. All days in a new year preceding the first Sunday are considered to be in week 0.%wWeekday as a decimal number [0(Sunday),6].%WWeek number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number [00,53]. All days in a new year preceding the first Monday are considered to be in week 0.%xLocale’s appropriate date representation.%XLocale’s appropriate time representation.%yYear without century as a decimal number [00,99].%YYear with century as a decimal number.%zTime zone offset indicating a positive or negative time difference from UTC/GMT of the form +HHMM or -HHMM, where H represents decimal hour digits and M represents decimal minute digits [-23:59, +23:59].%ZTime zone name (no characters if no time zone exists).%%A literal '%' character.