Time and date

In computing, time and date are commands that are used to display and set the current time and date of the operating system. Both commands are available in DOS, OS/2 and Microsoft Windows command line interpreters (shells) such as COMMAND.COM, cmd.exe and 4DOS/4NT. The Unix command date displays both the time and date, but does not allow the normal users to change either. Users with superuser privileges may use date -s <new-date-time> to change the time and date. The Unix command time performs a different function. In Windows PowerShell, date is a short form for the Get-Date Cmdlet which returns the current system time object. The Set verb of the Cmdlet is used to set both date and time.

Syntax

The syntax of both commands differs depending on the specific platform and implemenation:

Microsoft Windows (cmd.exe)

 time [/t] [/time] [hours:[minutes[:seconds[.hundredths]]][{A|P}]]

 date [mm-dd-yy] [/t]

Note: When these commands are called from the command line or a batch script, they will display the time or date and wait for the user to type a new time or date and press RETURN. The parameter '/t' will bypass asking the user to reset the time or date.

4DOS/4NT

TIME [/T] [hh[:mm[:ss]]] [AM | PM]
 
hh:  The hour (0 - 23).
mm:  The minute (0 - 59).
ss:  The second (0 - 59), set to 0 if omitted.
 
/T:  (display only)

DATE [/T] [mm-dd-yy]
 
/T:  (Display only)
mm:  The month (1 - 12).
dd:  The day (1 - 31).
yy:  The year (00 - 99, or a 4-digit year).

Windows PowerShell

Get-Date [[-Date] <DateTime>] [-Year <Int32>] [-Month <Int32>] 
          [-Day <Int32>] [-Hour <Int32>] [-Minute <Int32>] [-Second <Int32>] ...

Set-Date [-Date] <DateTime> ...
Set-Date [-Adjust] <TimeSpan> ...

OS/2 (cmd.exe)

TIME [hh-mm-ss] [/N]

DATE [mm-dd-yy] or [dd-mm-yy] or [yy-mm-dd] or [yy-dd-mm]

Note: /N means no prompt for TIME. This parameter is not available in the DATE command.

Examples

Microsoft Windows (cmd.exe)

• To set the computer clock to 3:42 P.M., either of the following commands can be used:

C:\> time 15:42
C:\> time 3:42P

• To change the date to November 16, 1982, any of the following can be entered at the prompt:

C:\> date
11.16.82
11-16-82
11/16/82

• To display the current system date, type the following command:

date /t

4DOS/4NT

• Display the current system time:

C:\PROGRAM FILES\JPSOFT\4DOS>time /t
19:30:42

• Display the system date:

C:\PROGRAM FILES\JPSOFT\4DOS>date /t
Wed  7.05.2008

Windows PowerShell

• Adjust the current system time by -5 minutes:

PS C:\>Set-Date -Adjust (New-TimeSpan -Minutes -5)
 
Wednesday, May 07, 2008 7:25:42 PM

• Return the number of days between now and a given date:

PS C:\>((date) - (date 11/16/1982)).Days
9304

• Return the current system time and display it in a localized date and time format:

PS C:\>$culture = new-object Globalization.CultureInfo 'de-DE'
PS C:\>(date).ToString($culture)
07.05.2008 19:30:42

OS/2 (cmd.exe)

• Display the current system time:

[C:\]time
Current time is:  7.30.42,21
Enter the new time:

• Display the system date:

[C:\]date
Current date is: Wed  7.05.2008
Enter the new date: (dd.mm.yy)

See also

• List of DOS commands
• List of Unix programs
• Date and time notation

References

• Microsoft TechNet Time article
• Microsoft TechNet Date article