C# DateTime Parse

Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the C# DateTime Parse() method to convert a string to a DateTime value.

Introduction to C# DateTime Parse() method

The DateTime.Parse() method converts a string representation of a date and time to a DateTime value. For example:

using static System.Console;

var dt = DateTime.Parse("05/07/2023");
WriteLine(dt.ToLongDateString());Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

Sunday, May 7, 2023Code language: C# (cs)

The Parse() method converts the string 05/07/2023 to May 7, 2023, not July 5, 2023. The reason is that the Parse() method uses the current culture of the computer.

To get the current culture, you use a CultureInfo in the second argument of the Parse() method. For example, the following use the Parse() method to parse the string 05/07/2023 but uses the en-GB culture:

using System.Globalization;
using static System.Console;

WriteLine(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture); // en-USCode language: C# (cs)

Output:

en-USCode language: C# (cs)

To instruct the Parse() method to use an explicit culture, you can use a CultureInfo object as the second argument like this:

using System.Globalization;
using static System.Console;

var dt = DateTime.Parse(
    "05/07/2023",
    CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-GB")
);

WriteLine(dt.ToLongDateString());Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

Wednesday, July 5, 2023Code language: C# (cs)

In this example, the Parse() method parses the string 05/07/2023 as July 5, 2023.

If the input string doesn’t have time data, the Parse() method will assume 12:00 midnight. For example:

using System.Globalization;
using static System.Console;

var dt = DateTime.Parse(
    "05/07/2023",
    CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-GB")
);

WriteLine(dt);Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

7/5/2023 12:00:00 AMCode language: C# (cs)

If the Parse() method cannot parse a string to a valid DateTime value, it’ll throw a FormatException exception. To avoid the exception, you can use the TryParse() method instead.

C# DateTime TryParse()

The TryParse() method parses a specified string to an equivalent DateTime object if the conversion succeeded. The TryParse() method returns true if the parsing succeeds or false otherwise.

The following example uses the TryParse() method to parse a date and time string to a DateTime object:

using System.Globalization;
using static System.Console;


if (DateTime.TryParse(
    "05/07/2023 10:45:00",
    CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"),
    out var dt
))
{
    WriteLine(dt);
}
else
{
    WriteLine("Invalid date and time string");
}Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

5/7/2023 10:45:00 AMCode language: C# (cs)

And the following example shows the failure case:

using System.Globalization;
using static System.Console;


if (DateTime.TryParse(
    "15/07/2023 10:45:00",
    CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"),
    out var dt
))
{
    WriteLine(dt);
}
else
{
    WriteLine("Invalid date and time string");
}Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

Invalid date and time stringCode language: C# (cs)

Summary

• Use the C# DateTime.Parse() method to convert a date and time string to an equivalent DateTime object.
• Use the C# DateTime.TryParse() method to convert a date and time string to an equivalent DateTime object and returns false if the input string is invalid.