The parseDate() function takes an ISO 8601 date string and returns it as a date object. This function is usually the best tool for creating “hard-coded” date objects in a Notion formula.
parseDate(string)
string.parseDate()
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)A standard ISO 8601-formatted date looks like the following. The dashes - and colons : are optional but are recommended for readability.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ
YYYYMMDDTHHMMSSZ
Code language: plaintext (plaintext)Each date and time value requires a fixed number of digits that are padded with leading zeros.
| Token | Item | Values | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
YYYY | Year | 0000 – 9999 | |
MM | Month | 01 – 12 | |
DD | Date | 01 – 31 | |
T | Time | Required between the date and the time | |
HH | Hour | 00 – 23 | |
MM | Minute | 00 – 59 | |
SS | Second | Notion does not support seconds in date objects | |
Z | Timezone Offset | Z+00:00-01:00 | Z can be used as is (zero offset UTC), or alternatively options like +01:00 and -04:00 can be used directly following the time |
Example Formulas
parseDate("2023-07-29") /* Output: July 29, 2023 */
"20151021T1608".parseDate() /* Output: October 21, 2015 4:08 PM */
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)There are a number of hidden shortcodes that work in parseDate() as well, such as:
parseDate("00") /* Output: March 21, 2025 (current date) */
parseDate("24") /* Output: March 22, 2025 (tomorrow) */
parseDate("10") /* Output: March 21, 2025 10:00 AM */
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)When combined with formatDate, you can transform dates without needing dateAdd or dateSubtract:
/* prop("Date") is set to Jan 4, 1978 */
(now().year() + "-" + prop("Date").formatDate("MM-DD")).parseDate()
/* Output: Jan 4, 2025 */
/* Equivalent formula using dateAdd(): */
prop("Date").dateAdd(now().year() - prop("Date").year(), "years")Code language: JavaScript (javascript)Additional Tokens
While you’ll likely only need to use the standard YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ tokens, there are also some others that are supported.
Week Dates
Week dates utilise a year number, an ISO week date number, and a day of the week number.
YYYY-Www-D
YYYYWwwD
Code language: plaintext (plaintext)| Token | Item | Values | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| YYYY | Year | 0000 – 9999 | |
| Www | Week | W01 – W53 | |
| D | Day | 1 – 7 | 1 = Monday, 7 = Sunday, etc. |
"2020-W01-1".parseDate() /* Output: December 30, 2019 */
parseDate("2020-W53-7") /* Output: January 3, 2021 */
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)Ordinal Dates
Ordinal dates utilise a year number and a day of the year number.
YYYY-DDD
YYYYDDD
Code language: plaintext (plaintext)| Token | Item | Values | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| YYYY | Year | 0000 – 9999 | |
| DDD | Day of the year | 001 – 366 | Predictably, 366 only works for leap years |
parseDate("1981-095") /* Output: December 29, 2008 */
"2015-294T04:08".parseDate() /* Output: October 21, 2015 4:08 PM */
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)