`date` command

Print or set the date and time, in any format.

Shell & scheduling
Package coreutils
6 options · 9 examples

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Syntax
Common options
Examples
Guides
Related commands

Syntax

date [options] [+FORMAT]

Provided by the coreutils package. Run man date for the full manual.

Common options

Option	What it does
`+FORMAT`	Output format, e.g. +%Y-%m-%d
`-d STRING`	Show a date other than now, e.g. "next monday"
`-u`	UTC
`-s STRING`	Set the system date (root)
`-r FILE`	Last modification time of FILE
`-I`	ISO 8601 format

Examples

Current date and time
```
date
```
Year-month-day
```
date +%F
```
Timestamp for file names
```
date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S
```
Unix epoch seconds
```
date +%s
```
Convert an epoch to a date
```
date -d @1767225600
```
Tomorrow
```
date -d tomorrow +%F
```
30 days ago
```
date -d "30 days ago" +%F
```
UTC in ISO 8601
```
date -u -Iseconds
```

Use in a backup name

tar -czf "backup-$(date +%F).tar.gz" /etc

date guides

Your Ultimate Guide to the Linux Date Command Linux Commands · Updated Apr 2025
How to Get Current Date and Time in Bash Script Shell Scripting · Updated Apr 2025
Bash: Display Date and Time In a Specific Format Shell Scripting · Updated Apr 2025

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