formatDate

The formatDate() function formats a date as a string using various formatting tokens.

formatDate(date, string [must conform to token format], timezone [optional])

date.formatDate(string [must conform to token format], timezone [optional])
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

It accepts three arguments in the following order:

1. A date (can be passed via properties – Date, Created Time, Last Edited Time – or via date functions such as now, fromTimestamp, dateAdd, dateSubtract)
2. A string specifying the formatting tokens for the date output
3. (Optional) A string specifying a timezone for the date.

By default, formatDate() will display dates in your system’s timezone, even if the date with the Date property was created from another timezone or explicitly given that timezone. (This matches how Date properties also display dates and times; a date with a time of 02:30 in PST will show as 05:30 to a user located in the EST time zone. When they click into the Date property, they’ll see the actual 02:30 time with the timezone displayed).

If you want, you can specify another timezone, which will cause the function to display the date in that timezone.

formatDate(prop("Date"), "YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm", "EST")
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

You can use timezone formats such as America/Chicago, EST, GMT+1, UTC-5, and any other format supported by the Luxon date library.

Example Formulas

formatDate(now(), "MMMM DD YYYY") /* Output: March 21 2025 */

now().formatDate("dddd, MMMM DD, YYYY hh:mm A zz")
/* Output: Friday, March 21, 2025 07:20 PM CDT */

now().formatDate("dddd, MMMM DD, YYYY hh:mm A zz", "GMT+5")
/* Output: Saturday, March 22, 2025 05:20 AM GMT+5 */
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

You can also use brackets ([]) to escape any characters that you’d like to render explicitly (i.e. not use a formatting command):

formatDate(now(), "[Month of] MMMM, YYYY") 
/* Output: Month of June, 2022 */
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

By specifying the formatting options you want within the function’s second argument, you can customize your date format.

Notion uses Luxon to handle date formatting, but retains a lot of the tokens used by Luxon’s predecessor, Moment. Refer to the token lists below to see all possible formatting options.

Limitations

formatDate() returns a string, not a date. Therefore, it is not possible to do date math on its output. You can however use parseDate and a date formatted as YYYY-MM-DD to do this.

Good to Remember: Notion formulas are picky about data types. The formula editor will almost never do automatic type conversion, so you must pass the correct data types when you use functions.

For example, you cannot use dateAdd or dateSubtract on the output of formatDate():

/* ERROR: Argument of type text does not satisfy function dateAdd. */
dateAdd(formatDate(now(),"MMMM DD YYYY"), 4, "months")

/* Using parseDate */
dateAdd(parseDate(formatDate(now(),"YYYY-MM-DD")), 4, "months")
/* Output: July 21, 2025 */
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

It is also very difficult to perform date comparisons using the output of formatDate(). While equality comparisons work well:

formatDate(now(), "MMM DD YYYY") == formatDate(prop("Date"), "MMM DD YYYY")
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

…it is much more difficult to perform “earlier than” or “later than” comparisons.

Again, parseDate is your best friend here. Once you’re working with an actual Date object, you can do all the comparisons you want.

Alternatively, you can use functions such as timestamp, date, week, month, year, etc. to make these kinds of comparisons.

Finally, it is also not possible to create date-based filters in a database view using a formula property that outputs a date string via formatDate().

Example Database

This example database shows the numbered week of year that matches the date in the Date property.

View and Duplicate Database

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“Week” Property Formula

formatDate(prop("Date"), "wo")
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

“Detailed Format” Property Formula

formatDate(prop("Date"), "dddd, MMMM Do, YYYY, HH:mm A, wo [week of the year]")
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Formatting Tokens

Time

Token	Description	Example
A	Uppercase meridiem	PM
a	Meridiem	pm
H	Hour in 24-hour time, no padding	4
HH	Hour in 24-hour time, padded to 2	04
h	Hour in 12-hour time, no padding	4
hh	Hour in 12-hour time, padded to 2	04
k	1-based hour in 24-hour time, no padding	4
kk	1-based hour in 24-hour time, padded to 2	04
m	Minute, no padding	8
mm	Minute, padded to 2	08
s	Second, no padding *	0
ss	Second, padded to 2 *	00
S	Fractional seconds, between 0 and 9 *	0
SS	Fractional seconds, between 0 and 99, padded to 2 *	00
SSS	Fractional seconds, between 0 and 999, padded to 3 *	000
LT	Localized 12-hour time (no padding), uppercase meridiem	4:08 PM
LTS	Localized 12-hour time with seconds (no padding), uppercase meridiem *	4:08:00 PM

Days

Token	Description	Example
D	Day of month, no padding	21
Do	Day of month, with ordinal suffix	21st
DD	Day of month, padded to 2	21
DDD	Day of year, no padding	294
DDDo	Day of year, with ordinal suffix	294th
DDDD	Day of year, padded to 3	294
d	Zero-based day of week, no padding	3
do	Zero-based day of week, with ordinal suffix	3rd
dd	Localized day of week name, 2-letter abbreviation	We
ddd	Localized day of week name, 3-letter abbreviation	Wed
dddd	Localized day of week name, unabbreviated	Wednesday
E	ISO day of week, no padding	3
e	Localized day of week, no padding	3

Weeks

Token	Description	Example
w	Week of year, no padding	4
wo	Week of year, with ordinal suffix	4th
ww	Week of year, padded to 2	04
W	ISO week of year, no padding	4
Wo	ISO week of year, with ordinal suffix	4th
WW	ISO week of year, padded to 2	04

Months

Token	Description	Example
M	Month, no padding	4
Mo	Month, with ordinal suffix	4th
MM	Month, padded to 2	04
MMM	Localized month name, 3-letter abbreviation	Oct
MMMM	Localized month name, unabbreviated	October

Quarters

Token	Description	Example
Q	Quarter, no padding	4
Qo	Quarter, with ordinal suffix	4th
QQ	Quarter, padded to 2	04

Years

Token	Description	Example
Y	ISO year	2015
YY	Year, 2 digits	15
YYYY	Year, 4 digits	2015
YYYYYY	Expanded year	+002015
gg	Week year, 2 digits	15
gggg	Week year, 4 digits	2015
GG	ISO week year, 2 digits	15
GGGG	ISO week year, 4 digits	2015

Timestamp

Token	Description	Example
X	Unix timestamp	1445468880
x	Unix millisecond timestamp	1445468880000

Time Zone

Token	Description	Example
Z	Time zone, short offset	-07:00
ZZ	Time zone, techie offset	-0700
ZZZ	Time zone, unabbreviated named offset	Pacific Daylight Time

Full Date & Time

Token	Description	Example
L	Localized month (padded to 2), day of month (padded to 2), year (4 digits)	10/21/2015
l	Localized month (no padding), day of month (no padding), year (4-digits)	10/21/2015
LL	Localized month name (unabbreviated), day of month (no padding), year (4-digits)	October 21, 2015
ll	Localized month name (3-letter abbreviation), day of month (no padding), year (4-digits)	Oct 21, 2015
LLL	Localized month name (unabbreviated), day of month (no padding), year (4-digits), 12-hour time (no padding), uppercase meridiem	October 21, 2015 4:08 PM
lll	Localized month name (3-letter abbreviation), day of month (no padding), year (4-digits), 12-hour time (no padding), uppercase meridiem	Oct 21, 2015 4:08 PM
LLLL	Localized day of week name (unabbreviated), month name (unabbreviated), day of month (no padding), year (4-digits), time (no padding)	Wednesday, October 21, 2015 4:08 PM
llll	Localized day of week name (3-letter abbreviation), month name (3-letter abbreviation), day of month (no padding), year (4-digits), time (no padding)	Wed, Oct 21, 2015 4:08 PM

Other

Token	Description	Example
[Great Scott!]	Escaped characters (between square brackets)	Great Scott!