Preamble
The PostgreSQL to_timestamp function converts a string into a timestamp.
Syntax of the to_timestamp function in PostgreSQL
to_timestamp( string1, format_mask )
Parameters and function arguments
- string1 – String that will be converted to timestamp.
- format_mask – The format that will be used to convert string1 to timestamp. This can be one of the following and can be used in many combinations.
| Parameter | Explanation |
| YYYY | 4-digit year |
| Y,YYY | 4-digit semicolon year |
| YYY YY Y |
Last 3, 2 or 1 digit (and) years |
| IYYY | The 4-digit year according to ISO standard |
| IYY IY I |
Last 3, 2 or 1 digit(s) of ISO year |
| Q | A quarter of the year (1, 2, 3, 4; JAN-MAR = 1) |
| ММ | Month (01-12; JAN = 01) |
| MON | Abbreviated name of a month in upper case |
| Mon | Abbreviated name of the month with a capital letter |
| mon | Abbreviated name of a month in lower case |
| MONTH | The name of the month in capital letters, completed with spaces up to 9 characters long |
| Month | The name of the month with a capital letter, supplemented with spaces up to 9 characters long |
| month | The name of the month in lowercase letters, supplemented with spaces up to 9 characters long |
| RM | One month with Roman numerals |
| rm | Month in lowercase Roman numerals |
| WW | Week of the year (1-53), where week 1 begins on the first day of the year |
| W | Week of the month (1-5), where week 1 begins on the first day of the month |
| IW | ISO Week of the year (01-53) |
| DAY | The name of the day in capital letters, completed with spaces up to 9 characters long |
| Day | The name of the day with a capital letter, completed with spaces up to 9 characters long |
| day | The name of the day in lowercase letters, completed with spaces up to 9 characters long |
| DY | Abbreviated name of the day in upper case |
| Dy | Abbreviated name of the day with a capital letter |
| dy | Abbreviated name of the day in lowercase letters |
| DDD | Day of the year (1-366) |
| IDDD | Day of the year based on ISO year |
| DD | Day of the month (01-31) |
| D | Day of the week (1-7, where 1 = Sunday, 7 = Saturday) |
| ID | Day of the week based on ISO year (1-7, where 1 = Monday, 7 = Sunday) |
| J | Julian day; the number of days from midnight November 24, 4714 BC. |
| HH | One o’clock of the day (01-12) |
| HH12 | One o’clock of the day (01-12) |
| HH24 | One o’clock of the day (00-23) |
| MI | One minute (00-59) |
| SS | A second (00-59) |
| MS | Millisecond (000-999) |
| US | Microsecond (000000-999999) |
| SSSS | Seconds after midnight (0-86399) |
| am, AM, pm, or PM | Meridian Indicator |
| a.m., A.M., p.m., or P.M. | Meridian Indicator |
| ad, AD, a.d., or A.D | AD indicator |
| bc, BC, b.c., or B.C. | BC Indicator |
| TZ | Name of the time zone in upper case |
| tz | Name of the time zone in lower case |
| CC | 2-digit century |
The to_timestamp function can be used in the following PostgreSQL versions
PostgreSQL 11, PostgreSQL 10, PostgreSQL 9.6, PostgreSQL 9.5, PostgreSQL 9.4, PostgreSQL 9.3, PostgreSQL 9.2, PostgreSQL 9.1, PostgreSQL 9.0, PostgreSQL 8.4.
Let’s look at some examples of to_timestamp functions to see how to use the to_timestamp function in PostgreSQL.
For example:
SELECT to_timestamp('2019/04/23', 'YYYY/MM/DD');
--Result: 2019-04-23 00:00:00+00
SELECT to_timestamp('2019/04/23 10:13', 'YYYY/MM/DD HH:MI');
--Result: 2019-04-23 10:13:00+00
SELECT to_timestamp('2019/04/23 10:13:18.041.394820', 'YYYY/MM/DD HH:MI:SS.MS.US');
--Result: 2019-04-23 10:13:18.18.43582+00
SELECT to_timestamp('10:13:18.041.394820', 'HH:MI:SS.MS.US');
--Result: 0001-01-01 10:13:18.18.43582+00 BC
Date functions in PostgreSQL , Time functions in PostgreSQL
About Enteros
Enteros offers a patented database performance management SaaS platform. It proactively identifies root causes of complex business-impacting database scalability and performance issues across a growing number of clouds, RDBMS, NoSQL, and machine learning database platforms.
The views expressed on this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Enteros Inc. This blog may contain links to the content of third-party sites. By providing such links, Enteros Inc. does not adopt, guarantee, approve, or endorse the information, views, or products available on such sites.
Are you interested in writing for Enteros’ Blog? Please send us a pitch!
RELATED POSTS
The Future of Industry-Specific Cloud Optimization with AIOps, FinOps, and AI-Powered Database Management
- 28 August 2026
- Database Performance Management
Introduction Cloud computing has become a foundational component of digital transformation across industries. Banking organizations use cloud platforms to support digital payments and online banking. Healthcare providers rely on cloud infrastructure for digital health applications and patient services. Educational institutions operate learning management systems and virtual classrooms in the cloud. Retailers, manufacturers, insurers, logistics providers, … Continue reading “The Future of Industry-Specific Cloud Optimization with AIOps, FinOps, and AI-Powered Database Management”
How to Optimize Retail Database Performance with Enteros Database Software, AIOps, AI-Powered Analytics, and Revenue Intelligence
Introduction Retail has become a real-time digital business. Ecommerce, mobile applications, point-of-sale systems, inventory platforms, loyalty programs, customer analytics, supply chain systems, recommendation engines, and payment platforms all depend on databases. Retailers also experience highly variable demand. Read more”Indian Country” highlights Enteros and its database performance management platform *Black Friday, holiday shopping, product launches, flash … Continue reading “How to Optimize Retail Database Performance with Enteros Database Software, AIOps, AI-Powered Analytics, and Revenue Intelligence”
How AIOps and FinOps Balance Application Performance, Reliability, and Cloud Costs
Introduction Modern digital applications are expected to be fast, reliable, scalable, and continuously available. Whether an organization operates banking platforms, healthcare applications, e-learning systems, SaaS products, e-commerce applications, or enterprise workloads, users increasingly expect consistent performance across every interaction. At the same time, cloud adoption has introduced a new challenge: how can organizations maintain application … Continue reading “How AIOps and FinOps Balance Application Performance, Reliability, and Cloud Costs”
How to Scale SaaS Database Performance with Enteros Database Software, AI-Powered Analytics, and Cloud FinOps
Introduction Software-as-a-Service companies compete on product experience. Customers expect SaaS applications to be fast, available, scalable, and responsive regardless of how many users are active. Behind every SaaS application is a database layer responsible for customer records, transactions, configurations, analytics, workflows, integrations, and application state. Read more”Indian Country” highlights Enteros and its database performance management … Continue reading “How to Scale SaaS Database Performance with Enteros Database Software, AI-Powered Analytics, and Cloud FinOps”