Setting Default Date and Time Formats

There are three configurable date and time settings.

  1. Click Tools > Options.

  2. Click Calendar > Date/Time.

  3. Set each format as needed:

Time Format

You can set the time format to display the hour, minutes, and second in whatever order and format you prefer, with whatever separators you like. The following table shows the symbols available for formatting the time.

Symbol

Meaning

Presentation

Example

h

Hour in am/pm (1-12)

Number

12

H

Hour in day (0-23)

Number

0

m

Minute in hour

Number

30

s

Second in minute

Number

55

E

Day in week

Text

Tue

a

am/pm marker

Text

PM

Escape for text

Delimiter

(none)

Single quote

Literal

The following table shows some common time formats.

Example

Result

h:mm

12:08

h:mm:ss

12:08:52

H:mm

17:23

H:mm.ss

17:23.16

h:mm a

2:45 PM

E h:mm a

Tue, 2:45 PM

Short Date Format

Use the Short date setting to specify how the date appears in its short format (typically, with numbers representing the day, month, and year) with whatever separators you like. The following table shows the symbols available for formatting the short date.

Symbol

Meaning

Presentation

Example

y

Year

Number

2008

M

Month in year

Number or Text

08, Aug, or August

d

Day in month

Number

12

h

Hour in am/pm (1-12)

Number

8

H

Hour in day (0-23)

Number

16

m

Minute in hour

Number

30

s

Second in minute

Number

52

E

Day in week

Text

Tue

w

Week in year

Number

27

a

am/pm marker

Text

PM

Escape for text

Delimiter

(none)

Single quote

Literal

The following table shows some common short date formats.

Example

Result

dd.M.yyyy

24.7.2008

dd.MM.yy

24.07.08

M/dd/yyyy

7/24/2008

M-dd-yy

7-24-08

Long Date Format

Use the Long date setting to specify how the date appears in its long format (typically, with numbers representing the day and year, and the month spelled out) with whatever separators you like. The following table shows the symbols available for formatting the long date.

Symbol

Meaning

Presentation

Example

y

Year

Number

2008

M

Month in year

Number or Text

08, Aug, or August

d

Day in month

Number

12

h

Hour in am/pm (1-12)

Number

8

H

Hour in day (0-23)

Number

16

m

Minute in hour

Number

30

s

Second in minute

Number

52

E

Day in week

Text

Tue

w

Week in year

Number

27

a

am/pm marker

Text

PM

Escape for text

Delimiter

(none)

Single quote

Literal

The following table shows some common long date formats.

Example

Result

dd.MMMM, yyyy

24.August, 2008

dd.MM.yy

24.08.08

EEEE dd MMM, yyyy

Sunday 24 Aug, 2008

EEEE, MMMM dd, yyyy

Sunday, August 24, 2008

E, MMM d, yy

Sun, Aug 24, 08

MMM dd, yyyy

Aug 24, 2008

M-dd-yy

8-24-08

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