FormatDateTime

Returns an expression formatted as a date or time.

Syntax: FormatDateTime( date [ , namedFormat ] )

date
required Date expression to be formatted.
namedFormat
optional Numeric value that indicates the date/time format used. If omitted, vbGeneralDate is used.

The namedFormat argument has the following settings:

Constant Value Description
vbGeneralDate 0 Display a date and/or time. If there is a date part, display it as a short date. If there is a time part, display it as a long time. If present, both parts are displayed.
vbLongDate 1 Display a date by using the long date format specified in the system regional settings.
vbShortDate 2 Display a date by using the short date format specified in the system regional settings.
vbLongTime 3 Display a time by using the time format specified in the system regional settings.
vbShortTime 4 Display a time by using the 24-hour format (hh:mm).

Common Errors

Error When
5 (&H5), Invalid procedure call or argument namedFormat is less than 0 or greater than 4
94 (&H5E), Invalid use of Null namedFormat is Null

Example

This example uses FormatDateTime to display a date value in several formats.

Dim d As Date
d = #2026-05-29#
Debug.Print FormatDateTime(d, vbLongDate)     ' e.g. "Friday, May 29, 2026"
Debug.Print FormatDateTime(d, vbShortDate)    ' e.g. "05/29/2026"
Debug.Print FormatDateTime(d, vbLongTime)     ' e.g. "12:00:00 AM"

See Also