PHP date format conversion is mainly implemented in two ways. First, use the combination of date() and strtotime() functions, which is suitable for most standard format conversions, but the support for non-standard formats is limited; second, use the DateTime class to deal with more complex scenarios, such as time zone conversion and multilingual support, which has stronger readability and fault tolerance; in addition, you also need to master common format characters, such as Y represents a four-bit year, m represents a month with a leading zero, and d represents a date with a leading zero, etc.; it is recommended to use date() strtotime() in simple scenarios, and DateTime is preferred for time zones or internationalizations, and pay attention to verifying the legitimacy of the input.
Date format conversion is a very common operation in PHP development. Whether it is processing user input, database storage, or interface returns data, you may need to convert dates in one format to another. The key is to master several commonly used functions and formatting methods.

Use date()
and strtotime()
to convert formats
This is the most basic and common method. strtotime()
will parse the date string into a timestamp, and then output it in the specified format through date()
.

$date_str = "2025-04-05"; $new_format = date("d/m/Y", strtotime($date_str)); // Output 05/04/2025
This method is suitable for conversion in most standard formats. But be aware:
-
strtotime()
has limited support for non-standard formats, such as dates containing Chinese will fail to parse. - If the input is
null
or an illegal value, an error result or warning may be returned.
Use DateTime
class to handle more flexibly
For complex scenarios, such as time zone conversion or multilingual support, it is recommended to use the object-oriented DateTime
class:

$date = new DateTime("2025-04-05"); echo $date->format("Ymd H:i:s"); // Output 2025-04-05 00:00:00
The advantages are obvious:
- Supports more formats and time zone settings
- Strong readability and clear structure
- Better fault tolerance, especially when dealing with irregular dates
For example, set the time zone:
$date = new DateTime("2025-04-05", new DateTimeZone("UTC")); $date->setTimezone(new DateTimeZone("Asia/Shanghai")); echo $date->format("Ymd H:i:s"); // Adjust the time according to the time zone
Common format comparison table
The following are some commonly used format characters and their meanings for your reference when converting:
-
Y
: Four-digit year (such as 2025) -
y
: double-digit year (such as 25) -
m
: Month (with leading zeros, such as 04) -
n
: month (without leading zeros, such as 4) -
d
: Date (with leading zeros, such as 05) -
j
: Date (without leading zeros, such as 5) -
H
: hours (24-hour system) -
h
: hours (12-hour system) -
i
: minutes -
s
: seconds -
A
/a
: AM/PM (upper case or lower case)
You can freely combine according to your needs, such as dmY
means "date-month-year".
Basically these are the methods. In daily development, it is enough to use date()
to strtotime()
for simple conversion. DateTime
is preferred for scenarios involving time zones or internationalization. Don't forget to check whether the input is legal to avoid null values ??or format errors.
The above is the detailed content of php convert date format. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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