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PARSE_DATE
Converts text to a date.
Sample usage
PARSE_DATE("%x", DateText)
Syntax
PARSE_DATE( format_string, text )
Parameters
format_string - A string representation of the format of your date field. See Format elements for date and time parts for a list of format elements that this function supports.
text - a text representation of a date.
Return data type
Date
Example
In these examples, DateText is a field containing a text date. Use the format_string field to specify the format of that text string. Applying PARSE_DATE to the text field returns a Date value.
Example formula
Input
Output
PARSE_DATE("%m/%d/%y", DateText)
12/25/08
2008-12-25
PARSE_DATE("%d%m%Y", DateText)
25122008
2008-12-25
Notes
When using PARSE_DATE, keep the following in mind:
Unspecified fields. Any unspecified field is initialized from 1970-01-01.
Case insensitive names. Names, such as Monday, February, and so on, are case insensitive.
Whitespace. One or more consecutive white spaces in the format string matches zero or more consecutive white spaces in the date string. In addition, leading and trailing white spaces in the date string are always allowed -- even if they are not in the format string.
Format precedence. When two (or more) format elements have overlapping information (for example both %F and %Y affect the year), the last one generally overrides any earlier ones.
This function supports format elements, but does not have full support for %Q, %a, %A, %g, %G, %j, %u, %U, %V, %w, and %W.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-07-22 UTC."],[],[],null,["PARSE_DATE\n==========\n\nConverts text to a date.\n\nSample usage\n------------\n\n`PARSE_DATE(\"%x\", DateText)`\n\nSyntax\n------\n\n`PARSE_DATE( `\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eformat_string\u003c/var\u003e`, `\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003etext\u003c/var\u003e` )`\n\n### Parameters\n\n\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eformat_string\u003c/var\u003e - A string representation of the format of your date field. See [Format elements for date and time parts](/bigquery/docs/reference/standard-sql/format-elements#format_elements_date_time) for a list of format elements that this function supports.\n\n\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003etext\u003c/var\u003e - a text representation of a date.\n\nReturn data type\n----------------\n\nDate\n\nExample\n-------\n\nIn these examples, **DateText** is a field containing a text date. Use the *format_string* field to specify the format of that text string. Applying `PARSE_DATE` to the text field returns a Date value.\n\nNotes\n-----\n\nWhen using `PARSE_DATE`, keep the following in mind:\n\n- **Unspecified fields**. Any unspecified field is initialized from 1970-01-01.\n- **Case insensitive names**. Names, such as Monday, February, and so on, are case insensitive.\n- **Whitespace**. One or more consecutive white spaces in the format string matches zero or more consecutive white spaces in the date string. In addition, leading and trailing white spaces in the date string are always allowed -- even if they are not in the format string.\n- **Format precedence** . When two (or more) format elements have overlapping information (for example both `%F` and `%Y` affect the year), the last one generally overrides any earlier ones.\n\n\u003e This function supports format elements, but does not have full support for `%Q, %a, %A, %g, %G, %j, %u, %U, %V, %w, and %W.`\n\nRelated resources\n-----------------\n\n- [Dates and times](/looker/docs/studio/dates-and-times)\n- [Calculated fields](/looker/docs/studio/about-calculated-fields)\n- [Looker Studio function list](/looker/docs/studio/function-list)"]]
