The format Method of the DateTime Class
The format method is applied to a DateTime object
and returns a formatted date/time string.
It accepts a format string as a parameter,
where special characters are replaced with date components.
The string format is similar to the date function.
Syntax
$datetime->format(string $format);
Example
Formatting the current date in Y-m-d format:
<?php
$date = new DateTime();
echo $date->format('Y-m-d');
?>
Code execution result:
'2025-07-30'
Example
Getting the time in H:i:s format:
<?php
$date = new DateTime();
echo $date->format('H:i:s');
?>
Code execution result:
'14:25:36'
Example
Getting complete date information:
<?php
$date = new DateTime();
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:s');
?>
Code execution result:
'2025-07-30 14:25:36'
