Retrieve Current Date and Time in Python: A Practical Guide

Retrieve Current Date and Time in Python: A Practical Guide

Master how to fetch the current date and time in Python, and learn how to format them with strftime() for any project.

Video: Dates and Times in Python

Understanding dates and times is essential for logging, scheduling, and data analysis. Below we demonstrate reliable methods using Python’s built‑in datetime module.

Example 1: Getting Today’s Date

from datetime import date

today = date.today()
print("Today's date:", today)

We import the date class from datetime and call date.today() to retrieve the local date as a date object. This object can then be formatted into any string representation.

Example 2: Formatting the Current Date in Multiple Styles

from datetime import date

today = date.today()

# dd/mm/YYYY
print("d1 =", today.strftime("%d/%m/%Y"))

# Textual month, day and year
print("d2 =", today.strftime("%B %d, %Y"))

# mm/dd/YY
print("d3 =", today.strftime("%m/%d/%y"))

# Month abbreviation, day and year
print("d4 =", today.strftime("%b-%d-%Y"))

Typical output might look like:

d1 = 16/09/2019
d2 = September 16, 2019
d3 = 09/16/19
d4 = Sep-16-2019

If you need both date and time, use the datetime class.

Example 3: Getting the Current Date and Time

from datetime import datetime

# datetime object containing current date and time
now = datetime.now()
print("now =", now)

# dd/mm/YYYY HH:MM:SS
print("date and time =", now.strftime("%d/%m/%Y %H:%M:%S"))

Typical console output:

now = 2021-06-25 07:58:56.550604
date and time = 25/06/2021 07:58:56

Using datetime.now() gives you a complete timestamp, which you can then format to your preferred style with strftime().