Custom date formats
When you choose “Custom Format” in the Date Picker, you can build your own date style using format tokens. Each token represents part of a date (like year, month, or day). Combine tokens with punctuation or text to create the exact format you want.
For example:
- MM/DD/YYYY → 12/02/2026
- MMMM D, YYYY → December 2, 2026
You can include any text in your date format by wrapping it in [square brackets]. This tells TextExpander to treat it as literal text rather than formatting code. For example, [Q]Q YYYY will output as “Q1 2026.”
Available custom format tokens
Use the tokens below in any order, along with any separators (such as -, /, spaces, or commas).
| Format | Output | Description |
| YY | 25 | Two-digit year |
| YYYY | 2025 | Four-digit year |
| M | 1–12 | Month number, beginning at 1 |
| MM | 01–12 | Month number, 2 digits |
| MMM | Jan–Dec | Abbreviated month name |
| MMMM | January–December | Full month name |
| D | 1–31 | Day of the month |
| DD | 01–31 | Day of the month, 2 digits |
| d | 0–6 | Day of the week (Sunday = 0) |
| dd | Su–Sa | Min day-of-week name |
| ddd | Sun–Sat | Short day-of-week name |
| dddd | Sunday–Saturday | Full day-of-week name |
| W | 1 2 … 52 53 | ISO Week of year |
| WW | 01 02 … 52 53 | ISO Week of year, 2-digits |
| GGGG | 2026 | ISO Week Year |
Localized formats
Localized formats (L, LL, l, ll) are preset patterns that automatically adapt to your app locale preference or device locale. They’re a quick way to get common date styles for any language/region without manually combining tokens. For example:
| Format | English | German | Japanese |
| L | MM/DD/YYYY 12/16/2025 | DD.MM.YYYY 16.12.2025 | YYYY/MM/DD 2025/12/16 |
| LL | MMMM D, YYYY December 16, 2025 | D. MMMM YYYY 16.Dezember 2025 | YYYY年M月D日 2025年12月16日 |
| l | M/D/YYYY 12/16/2025 | D.M.YYYY 16.12.2025 | YYYY/M/D 2025/12/16 |
| ll | MMM D, YYYY Dec 16, 2025 | D. MMM YYYY 16.Dez 2025 | YYYY年M月D日 2025年12月16日 |
Advanced formats
Advanced formations provide additional format options beyond the standard ones, including quarter, ordinal days, and weeks of year. Advanced format tokens include:
| Format | Output | Description |
| Q | 1-4 | Quarter |
| Do | 1st 2nd … 31st | Day of Month with ordinal |
| w | 1 2 … 52 53 | Week of year |
| ww | 01 02 … 52 53 | Week of year, 2-digits |
| wo | 1st 2nd … 52nd 53rd | Week of year with ordinal |
Time tokens
Time tokens are also supported and default to midnight (0:00) when expanded. You can manually adjust the time after expansion as needed. Available time tokens include:
| Format | Output | Description |
| k | 1-24 | The hour, beginning at 1 |
| kk | 01-24 | The hour, 2-digits, beginning at 1 |
| X | 1360013296 | Unix Timestamp in second |
| x | 1360013296123 | Unix Timestamp in millisecond |
Localized formats also support time tokens, which default to midnight (0:00). You can manually adjust the time after expansion as needed. Localized time formats adapt to your language settings and include both date and time information. Localized time formats include:
| Format | English | German | Japanese |
| LT | h:mm A 8:02 PM | HH:mm 20:02 | HH:mm 20:02 |
| LTS | h:mm:ss A 08:02:18 PM | HH:mm:ss 20:02:18 | HH:mm:ss 20:02:18 |
| LLL | MMMM D, YYYY h:mm A August 17, 2026 8:02 PM | D. MMMM YYYY HH:mm 17. August 2026 20:02 | YYYY年M月D日 HH:mm 2026年8月17日 20:02 |
| LLLL | dddd, MMMM D, YYYY h:mm A Monday, August 17, 2026 8:02 PM | dddd, D. MMMM YYYY HH:mm Montag, 17. August 2026 20:02 | YYYY年M月D日 dddd HH:mm 2026年8月17日 月曜日 20:02 |
| lll | MMM D, h:mm A Aug 17, 2026 8:02 PM | D. MMM YYYY HH:mm 17. Aug. 2026 20:02 | YYYY年M月D日 HH:mm 2026年8月17日 20:02 |
| llll | ddd, MMM D, YYYY h:mm A Mon, Aug 17, 2026 8:02 PM | ddd, D. MMM YYYY HH:mm Mo, 17. Aug. 2026 20:02 | YYYY年M月D日(ddd) HH:mm 2026年8月17日(月) 20:02 |