MySQL NOW() function

NOW() function

MySQL NOW() returns the value of current date and time in ‘YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS’ format or YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.uuuuuu format depending on the context (numeric or string) of the function.

CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP(), LOCALTIME, LOCALTIME(), LOCALTIMESTAMP, LOCALTIMESTAMP() are synonyms of NOW(). The NOW() returns the constant time when the statement began to work.

Note: If an example code uses NOW(), your output may vary from the output shown.

This function is useful in -

• NOW() is valuable for capturing and logging real-time timestamps when recording events, transactions, or activities.
• In applications, NOW() is used to provide users with real-time information, such as when an action was performed.
• NOW() can be used to generate formatted date and time strings for various display purposes.
• The function supports scheduling tasks or events based on the current date and time.
• The function is used in date and time calculations, such as finding time intervals or determining relative time differences.
• When working with batch data processing, NOW() helps capture the time when batches are executed.
• NOW() is used to create timestamps in logs to track the timing of system events or errors.

Syntax:

NOW();

Syntax Diagram:

MySQL Version: 8.0

Pictorial Presentation:

Example : MySQL NOW() function

The following statement will return the current date and time in ‘YYYY-MM-DD HH:SS:MM’ format.

Code:

SELECT NOW();

Output:

mysql> SELECT NOW();
+---------------------+
| NOW()               |
+---------------------+
| 2015-04-14 10:55:19 | 
+---------------------+
1 row in set (0.02 sec)

Example: NOW() function in numeric format

The following statement will return the current date and time in YYYYMMDDHHSSMM.uuuuuu format.

Code:

SELECT NOW(),NOW()+1;

Output:

mysql> SELECT NOW(),NOW()+1;
+---------------------+-----------------------+
| NOW()               | NOW()+1               |
+---------------------+-----------------------+
| 2015-04-14 11:15:32 | 20150414111533.000000 | 
+---------------------+-----------------------+
1 row in set (0.03 sec)

View the example in browser

Example: NOW() function using INTERVAL

The following statement will return the date and current time in ‘YYYY-MM-DD HH:SS:MM’ format for the previous day. The keyword ‘INTERVAL’ have been introduced to get the result.

Code:

SELECT NOW(),NOW()-INTERVAL 1 DAY;

Output:

mysql> SELECT NOW(),NOW()-INTERVAL 1 DAY;
+---------------------+----------------------+
| NOW()               | NOW()-INTERVAL 1 DAY |
+---------------------+----------------------+
| 2015-04-14 11:17:25 | 2015-04-13 11:17:25  | 
+---------------------+----------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Example: NOW() function using negative INTERVAL

The following statement will return the date and time in ‘YYYY-MM-DD HH:SS:MM’ format before 1 hour of current datetime. The keyword ‘INTERVAL’ have been introduced to get the result.

Code:

SELECT NOW(),NOW()-INTERVAL 1 HOUR;

Output:

 mysql> SELECT NOW(),NOW()-INTERVAL 1 HOUR;
+---------------------+-----------------------+
| NOW()               | NOW()-INTERVAL 1 HOUR |
+---------------------+-----------------------+
| 2015-04-14 11:19:01 | 2015-04-14 10:19:01   | 
+---------------------+-----------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
 

View the example in browser

Example: NOW() function using INTERVAL for a day

The following statement will return the date and time in ‘YYYY-MM-DD HH:SS:MM’ format after 1 day of the current datetime . The keyword ‘INTERVAL’ have been introduced to get the result.

Code:

SELECT NOW(),NOW()+INTERVAL 1 DAY;

Output:

mysql> SELECT NOW(),NOW()+INTERVAL 1 DAY;
+---------------------+----------------------+
| NOW()               | NOW()+INTERVAL 1 DAY |
+---------------------+----------------------+
| 2015-04-14 11:20:42 | 2015-04-15 11:20:42  | 
+---------------------+----------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Video Presentation:

All Date and Time Functions :

Click here to see the MySQL Date and time functions.

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