date

(Not recommended; use datetime("today")) Current date as character vector

date is not recommended. To return the current date as a datetime value, use datetime("today") instead. For more information on updating your code, see Version History or Replace Discouraged Instances of Serial Date Numbers and Date Strings.

Syntax

c = date

Description

c = date returns the current date as a character vector in the format dd-MMM-yyyy.

This format represents the day of the month (dd) as a number, the month name (MMM) as its three-letter abbreviation, and the year (yyyy) as a number.

Examples

Return Current Date

To return the current date as a character vector, use the date function.

c = date

c = 
'09-Aug-2025'

Limitations

• date always returns the English abbreviation for the month name. The function does not take your system locale into account when determining the month name.

• MATLAB^® Online™ determines the current date from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) rather than from local time.

Extended Capabilities

Thread-Based Environment

Run code in the background using MATLAB® backgroundPool or accelerate code with Parallel Computing Toolbox™ ThreadPool.

This function fully supports thread-based environments. For more information, see Run MATLAB Functions in Thread-Based Environment.

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

R2022b: Not recommended

There are no plans to remove date. However, the datetime function is recommended instead. The datetime data type provides flexible date and time formats, storage out to nanosecond precision, and properties to account for time zones and daylight saving time. It also takes your locale into account.

To return the current date as a datetime value, call datetime with "today" as the input argument.

d = datetime("today")

d = datetime
   15-Apr-2022

To return the current date as text, convert the datetime value to a string.

d = datetime("today");
d = string(d)

d = 
    "15-Apr-2022"