DbSchema | SQL Server - How to return Date Only from GETDATE

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Design • 13-Apr-2020

by DbSchema Team

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The basic query that returns the date and time for SQL Server is

SELECT getdate();

This query will return the current date & time of your local machine. In my case, the result is:

13.04.2020 18:54:05

1.The simplest way to return Date Only

Just execute the next query:

SELECT CONVERT(date, getdate())

In my case, the result is:

2020-04-13

2.The CONVERT method

This time, we are going to convert our results to VARCHAR, set a character limit and a display style with the next query:

SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), getdate(), 101);

The result:

04/13/2020    

Let’s break it down to understand it better:

• VARCHAR - this is the results’ data type;
• (10) - this is the maximum number of characters;
• getdate() - this is the expression used to return the date;
• 101 - this is the style of the result (see the table below for more styles).

There are other styles that you can use for your results:

Style	Result
101	mm/dd/yyyy
102	yyyy.mm.dd
103	dd/mm/yyyy
104	dd.mm.yyyy
105	dd-mm-yyyy
106	dd mon yyyy
107	Mon dd, yyyy
109	Mon dd yyyy
110	mm-dd-yyyy
111	yyyy/mm/dd

The 108 is missing because it will return the time.

This is all. Choose the right format for you and you’re ready to go.