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FORMAT (Transact-SQL) | The FORMAT function returns a value formatted with the specified format and optional culture. | markingmyname | maghan | randolphwest | 04/18/2025 | sql | t-sql | reference |
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| ai-assisted | =azuresqldb-current || >=sql-server-2016 || >=sql-server-linux-2017 || =azure-sqldw-latest || =fabric |
[!INCLUDE sql-asdb-asdbmi-asa-fabricse-fabricdw]
Returns a value formatted with the specified format and optional culture. Use the FORMAT function for locale-aware formatting of date/time and number values as strings. For general data type conversions, use CAST or CONVERT.
:::image type="icon" source="../../includes/media/topic-link-icon.svg" border="false"::: Transact-SQL syntax conventions
FORMAT( value , format [ , culture ] ) Expression of a supported data type to format. For a list of valid types, see the table in the Remarks section.
nvarchar format pattern.
The format argument must contain a valid .NET Framework format string, either as a standard format string (for example, "C" or "D"), or as a pattern of custom characters for dates and numeric values (for example, "MMMM DD, yyyy (dddd)"). Composite formatting isn't supported.
For a full explanation of these formatting patterns, consult the .NET Framework documentation on string formatting in general, custom date and time formats, and custom number formats. For more information, see Formatting Types.
Optional nvarchar argument specifying a culture.
If the culture argument isn't provided, the language of the current session is used. This language is set either implicitly, or explicitly by using the SET LANGUAGE statement. culture accepts any culture supported by the .NET Framework as an argument; it isn't limited to the languages explicitly supported by [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion]. If the culture argument isn't valid, FORMAT raises an error.
nvarchar or null
The length of the return value is determined by the format.
FORMAT returns NULL for errors other than a culture that isn't valid. For example, NULL is returned if the value specified in format isn't valid.
The FORMAT function is nondeterministic.
FORMAT relies on the presence of the .NET Framework Common Language Runtime (CLR).
This function can't be remoted since it depends on the presence of the CLR. Remoting a function that requires the CLR, could cause an error on the remote server.
FORMAT relies upon CLR formatting rules, which dictate that colons and periods must be escaped. Therefore, when the format string (second parameter) contains a colon or period, the colon, or period must be escaped with backslash when an input value (first parameter) is of the time data type. See D. FORMAT with time data types.
The following table lists the acceptable data types for the value argument together with their .NET Framework mapping equivalent types.
| Category | Type | .NET type |
|---|---|---|
| Numeric | bigint | Int64 |
| Numeric | int | Int32 |
| Numeric | smallint | Int16 |
| Numeric | tinyint | Byte |
| Numeric | decimal | SqlDecimal |
| Numeric | numeric | SqlDecimal |
| Numeric | float | Double |
| Numeric | real | Single |
| Numeric | smallmoney | Decimal |
| Numeric | money | Decimal |
| Date and Time | date | DateTime |
| Date and Time | time | TimeSpan |
| Date and Time | datetime | DateTime |
| Date and Time | smalldatetime | DateTime |
| Date and Time | datetime2 | DateTime |
| Date and Time | datetimeoffset | DateTimeOffset |
The following example returns a simple date formatted for different cultures.
DECLARE @d ASDATE='08/09/2024'; SELECT FORMAT(@d, 'd', 'en-US') AS'US English', FORMAT(@d, 'd', 'en-gb') AS'British English', FORMAT(@d, 'd', 'de-de') AS'German', FORMAT(@d, 'd', 'zh-cn') AS'Chinese Simplified (PRC)'; SELECT FORMAT(@d, 'D', 'en-US') AS'US English', FORMAT(@d, 'D', 'en-gb') AS'British English', FORMAT(@d, 'D', 'de-de') AS'German', FORMAT(@d, 'D', 'zh-cn') AS'Chinese Simplified (PRC)';[!INCLUDE ssResult]
US English British English German Simplified Chinese (PRC) ----------- ---------------- ----------- ------------------------- 8/9/2024 09/08/2024 09.08.2024 2024/8/9 US English British English German Chinese (Simplified PRC) ----------------------- ---------------- ------------------------ ------------------------- Friday, August 9, 2024 09 August 2024 Freitag, 9. August 2024 2024年8月9日 The following example shows formatting numeric values by specifying a custom format. The example assumes that the current date is August 9, 2024. For more information about these and other custom formats, see Custom Numeric Format Strings.
DECLARE @d ASDATE= GETDATE(); SELECT FORMAT(@d, 'dd/MM/yyyy', 'en-US') AS'Date', FORMAT(123456789, '###-##-####') AS'Custom Number';[!INCLUDE ssResult]
Date Custom Number ----------- -------------- 09/08/2024 123-45-6789 The following example returns five rows from the Sales.CurrencyRate table in the [!INCLUDE sssampledbobject-md] database. The column EndOfDateRate is stored as type money in the table. In this example, the column is returned unformatted and then formatted by specifying the .NET Number format, General format, and Currency format types. For more information about these and other numeric formats, see Standard Numeric Format Strings.
SELECT TOP (5) CurrencyRateID, EndOfDayRate, FORMAT(EndOfDayRate, 'N', 'en-us') AS'Numeric Format', FORMAT(EndOfDayRate, 'G', 'en-us') AS'General Format', FORMAT(EndOfDayRate, 'C', 'en-us') AS'Currency Format'FROMSales.CurrencyRateORDER BY CurrencyRateID;[!INCLUDE ssResult]
CurrencyRateID EndOfDayRate Numeric Format General Format Currency Format -------------- ------------ -------------- -------------- --------------- 1 1.0002 1.00 1.0002 $1.00 2 1.55 1.55 1.5500 $1.55 3 1.9419 1.94 1.9419 $1.94 4 1.4683 1.47 1.4683 $1.47 5 8.2784 8.28 8.2784 $8.28 This example specifies the German culture (de-de).
SELECT TOP (5) CurrencyRateID, EndOfDayRate, FORMAT(EndOfDayRate, 'N', 'de-de') AS'Numeric Format', FORMAT(EndOfDayRate, 'G', 'de-de') AS'General Format', FORMAT(EndOfDayRate, 'C', 'de-de') AS'Currency Format'FROMSales.CurrencyRateORDER BY CurrencyRateID;CurrencyRateID EndOfDayRate Numeric Format General Format Currency Format -------------- ------------ -------------- -------------- --------------- 1 1.0002 1,00 1,0002 1,00 € 2 1.55 1,55 1,5500 1,55 € 3 1.9419 1,94 1,9419 1,94 € 4 1.4683 1,47 1,4683 1,47 € 5 8.2784 8,28 8,2784 8,28 € FORMAT returns NULL in these cases because . and : aren't escaped.
SELECT FORMAT(CAST('07:35'ASTIME), N'hh.mm'); --> returns NULLSELECT FORMAT(CAST('07:35'ASTIME), N'hh:mm'); --> returns NULLFormat returns a formatted string because the . and : are escaped.
SELECT FORMAT(CAST('07:35'ASTIME), N'hh\.mm'); --> returns 07.35SELECT FORMAT(CAST('07:35'ASTIME), N'hh\:mm'); --> returns 07:35Format returns a formatted current time with AM or PM specified.
SELECT FORMAT(SYSDATETIME(), N'hh:mm tt'); --> returns 03:46 PMSELECT FORMAT(SYSDATETIME(), N'hh:mm t'); --> returns 03:46 PFormat returns the specified time, displaying AM.
SELECT FORMAT(CAST('2018-01-01 01:00'AS DATETIME2), N'hh:mm tt'); --> returns 01:00 AMSELECT FORMAT(CAST('2018-01-01 01:00'AS DATETIME2), N'hh:mm t'); --> returns 01:00 AFormat returns the specified time, displaying PM.
SELECT FORMAT(CAST('2018-01-01 14:00'AS DATETIME2), N'hh:mm tt'); --> returns 02:00 PMSELECT FORMAT(CAST('2018-01-01 14:00'AS DATETIME2), N'hh:mm t'); --> returns 02:00 PFormat returns the specified time in 24-hour format.
SELECT FORMAT(CAST('2018-01-01 14:00'AS DATETIME2), N'HH:mm'); --> returns 14:00The following example shows how to format large numbers with comma separators.
SELECT FORMAT(1234567.89, 'N0') AS FormattedNumber;[!INCLUDE ssResult]
1,234,568 This example uses the N format specifier. The N specifier is used for numeric values, and the number of decimal places can be adjusted by changing the format string (for example, N2 for two decimal places).
FORMAT ( value, format_string [, culture ] ) value: The value to format.format_string: A string that specifies the format to apply.culture: (Optional) A string that specifies the culture to use for formatting.
SELECT FORMAT(1234567.89, 'N0') AS FormattedNumber;1,234,568 