SQL Format Function

The SQL Format function is one of the String Function, which is used to format the specified value in the given format.

The basic syntax of the SQL Server Format Function is as shown below:

Format(Value, Format, Culture)

Value: Please specify a valid Expression of supporting Data Type.
Format: Please specify a valid .NET Framework format string.
Culture: This is an optional argument.

SQL Format Date Example

In this example we first declared a Datetime variable and assigned GETDATE() to it. Here, we are going to use the Format function to return the date in different formats.

I suggest you to refer the Standard Date and Time Format Strings article to understand the string formats that we used in this example.

--Using FORMAT in SQL Server to Format Date
DECLARE @Vardate DATETIME = GETDATE() 
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'd', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 1',  FORMAT(@Vardate, 'D', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 2'
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'f', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 3',  FORMAT(@Vardate, 'F', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 4'
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'g', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 5',  FORMAT(@Vardate, 'G', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 6'
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'm', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 7',  FORMAT(@Vardate, 'M', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 8'
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'O', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 9',  FORMAT(@Vardate, 'R', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 10'
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 's', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 11', FORMAT(@Vardate, 'S', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 12'
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 't', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 13', FORMAT(@Vardate, 'T', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 14'
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'u', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 15', FORMAT(@Vardate, 'U', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 16'
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'Y', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 17'

OUTPUT

SQL Format Date using Culture

In this example, we are going to use the format function third argument culture.

By this, you can display the month name, or day name in the native language. Something like, Day name in Japanese, Chineses, Hindi, Russian, Korean etc.

--Using FORMAT in SQL Server to Format Date (Culture) 
DECLARE @Vardate DATETIME = GETDATE() 
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'dd', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 1',  FORMAT(@Vardate, 'dddd', 'hi-IN' ) AS 'Result 2'
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'd', 'de-DE' ) AS 'Result 3',  FORMAT(@Vardate, 'dddd', 'ru-RU' ) AS 'Result 4'
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'M', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 5',  FORMAT(@Vardate, 'MMMM', 'hi-IN' ) AS 'Result 6'
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'MM', 'de-DE' ) AS 'Result 7',  FORMAT(@Vardate, 'MMMM', 'ru-RU' ) AS 'Result 8'
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'yy', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 9',  FORMAT(@Vardate, 'y', 'hi-IN' ) AS 'Result 10'
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'yyyy', 'de-DE' ) AS 'Result 11',  FORMAT(@Vardate, 'y', 'ru-RU' ) AS 'Result 12'

OUTPUT

SQL Format Date in Custom Format

In this section, we are going to define custom date time formats.

By this, you can define the custom formats to display the date and time.

--Using FORMAT in SQL Server to Format Date in Custom Format
DECLARE @Vardate DATETIME = GETDATE() 
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'dd/mm/yyyy') AS 'date in dd/mm/yyyy Format'  
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'dd/mm/yy') AS 'date in dd/mm/yy Format' 
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'd/m/yy') AS 'date in d/m/yy Format' 
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'mm/dd/yyyy') AS 'date in mm/dd/yyyy Format' 
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'MMMM dddd yyyy hh:mm:ss:mmmm') AS 'date in MMMM dddd yyyy hh:mm:ss:mmmm Format' 
SELECT FORMAT(@Vardate, 'MMMM yyyy, dddd hh:mm:ss:mmmm') AS 'date in MMMM yyyy, dddd hh:mm:ss:mmmm Format'

OUTPUT

SQL Format Currency using Culture

In this case, we are going to format the Currency values based on the specified culture.

--Using FORMAT in SQL Server to Format Currency Culture
DECLARE @Sales INT = 3325 
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c', 'en-US' ) AS 'USA Currency'
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c', 'ru-RU' ) AS 'Russian Currency'
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c', 'hi-IN' ) AS 'Indian Currency'
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c', 'de-DE' ) AS 'Indian Currency'

OUTPUT

In this Format function example, we use the format function to format the Currency. Using this approach, you can simply display the countries Currency symbols before the Money or Value.

--Using FORMAT in SQL Server to Format Decimal Values in Currency
DECLARE @Sales DECIMAL(8, 4) = 3325.2569 
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c' ) AS 'Result 1'
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c0' ) AS 'Result 2'
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c1' ) AS 'Result 3'
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c2' ) AS 'Result 4'
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c3' ) AS 'Result 5'
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c4' ) AS 'Result 6'

OUTPUT

Sql Server Format Currency Decimals

In this example we are going to format the decimal values in Currency using this format function.

--Using FORMAT in SQL Server to Format Decimal Values in Currency
DECLARE @Sales DECIMAL(8, 4) = 3325.2569 
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c', 'en-US' ) AS 'Result 1'
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c0', 'hi-IN' ) AS 'Result 2'
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c1', 'ru-RU') AS 'Result 3'
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c2', 'fr-FR' ) AS 'Result 4'
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c3', 'de-DE') AS 'Result 5'
SELECT FORMAT(@Sales, 'c4', 'zh-CN') AS 'Result 6'

OUTPUT

Format Numbers using Culture

In this example we are going to use the FORMAT function to format Numbers. Culture specify the number formats. I mean, some countries separate 100s, and others separate 1000s etc.

--Using FORMAT in SQL Server to Format Numbers
DECLARE @Number DECIMAL(11, 4) = 1453325.2569 
SELECT FORMAT(@Number, 'N', 'en-US') AS 'Result 1'
SELECT FORMAT(@Number, 'N', 'en-IN' ) AS 'Result 2'
SELECT FORMAT(@Number, 'N', 'ru-RU') AS 'Result 3'
SELECT FORMAT(@Number, 'N', 'fr-FR' ) AS 'Result 4'
SELECT FORMAT(@Number, 'N', 'de-DE') AS 'Result 5'
SELECT FORMAT(@Number, 'N', 'zh-CN') AS 'Result 6'

OUTPUT

SQL Server Format Numbers

In this format function example we are going to format numbers. To format the numbers, you can use the # symbols. Or, you can also use 0 to specify the number of decimal values.

--Using FORMAT in SQL Server to Format Numbers
DECLARE @Number DECIMAL(10,4) = 945354.1295 
DECLARE @Num INT = 945332534 
SELECT FORMAT(@Number, '#') AS 'Result 1'
SELECT FORMAT(@Number, '#,###' ) AS 'Result 2'
SELECT FORMAT(@Number, '#.00') AS 'Result 3'
SELECT FORMAT(@Number, '#,###.000' ) AS 'Result 4'
SELECT FORMAT(@Num, '###-##-####') AS 'Result 5'

OUTPUT