How to format a date in Python
Use dt.strftime('%Y-%m-%d') for custom formats or dt.isoformat() for the ISO 8601 standard.
from datetime import datetime, UTC
now = datetime.now(UTC)
print(now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")) # '2026-08-01 15:30:00'
print(now.strftime("%B %d, %Y")) # 'August 01, 2026'
print(now.isoformat()) # '2026-08-01T15:30:00.123456+00:00'strftime uses format codes: %Y = 4-digit year, %m = zero-padded month, %d = zero-padded day, %H = 24h hour, %M = minute, %S = second. The full list is at docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#format-codes.
For machine-readable output (APIs, databases, logs) prefer .isoformat() — it's the ISO 8601 standard, always sortable as text, and unambiguously parseable back into a datetime.
For human-facing output, keep the format in ONE place (a constant like DATE_FMT = '%b %d, %Y') so a locale change touches one file, not fifty.
Variations
Just the date part
print(now.date().isoformat()) # '2026-08-01'date() strips the time.
Just the time part
print(now.time().isoformat()) # '15:30:00.123456'time() strips the date.
12-hour with AM/PM
print(now.strftime("%I:%M %p")) # '03:30 PM'%I is 12-hour hour; %p is AM/PM.
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