How To Convert String To Date – Java

In this tutorial, we will show you how to convert String to Date. Many Java beginners are stuck in the Date conversion, hope this summary guide will helps you in some ways.

Refer table below for some of the common date and time patterns used in java.text.SimpleDateFormat.

Letter	Description	Examples
y	Year	2013
M	Month in year	July, 07, 7
d	Day in month	1-31
E	Day name in week	Friday, Sunday
a	Am/pm marker	AM, PM
H	Hour in day	0-23
h	Hour in am/pm	1-12
m	Minute in hour	0-60
s	Second in minute	0-60

Note
For complete date and time patterns, please refer to this java.text.SimpleDateFormat JavaDoc.

1. Date Example

If ‘M’ is 3 or more, then the month is interpreted as text, else number.

1. Date = 7-Jun-2013

 SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MMM-yyyy");
 String dateInString = "7-Jun-2013";
 
 try {
 
  Date date = formatter.parse(dateInString);
  System.out.println(date);
  System.out.println(formatter.format(date));
 
 } catch (ParseException e) {
  e.printStackTrace();
 }

Output

Fri Jun 07 00:00:00 MYT 2013
07-Jun-2013

2. Date = 07/06/2013

 SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy");
 String dateInString = "07/06/2013";
 
 try {
 
  Date date = formatter.parse(dateInString);
  System.out.println(date);
  System.out.println(formatter.format(date));
 
 } catch (ParseException e) {
  e.printStackTrace();
 }

Output

Fri Jun 07 00:00:00 MYT 2013
07/06/2013

3. Date = Jun 7, 2013

 SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("MMM dd, yyyy");
 String dateInString = "Jun 7, 2013";  
 
 try {
 
  Date date = formatter.parse(dateInString);
  System.out.println(date);
  System.out.println(formatter.format(date));
 
 } catch (ParseException e) {
  e.printStackTrace();
 }

Output

Fri Jun 07 00:00:00 MYT 2013
Jun 07, 2013

4. Date = Fri, June 7 2013

 SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("E, MMM dd yyyy");
 String dateInString = "Fri, June 7 2013";  
 
 try {
 
  Date date = formatter.parse(dateInString);
  System.out.println(date);
  System.out.println(formatter.format(date));
 
 } catch (ParseException e) {
  e.printStackTrace();
 }

Output

Fri Jun 07 00:00:00 MYT 2013
Fri, Jun 07 2013

2. Date and Time Example

1. Date and Time = Friday, Jun 7, 2013 12:10:56 PM

 SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("EEEE, MMM dd, yyyy HH:mm:ss a");
 String dateInString = "Friday, Jun 7, 2013 12:10:56 PM";  
 
 try {
 
  Date date = formatter.parse(dateInString);
  System.out.println(date);
  System.out.println(formatter.format(date));
 
 } catch (ParseException e) {
  e.printStackTrace();
 }

Output

Fri Jun 07 12:10:56 MYT 2013
Friday, Jun 07, 2013 12:10:56 PM