> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex-xdr-3.x/cortex-xdr-3.x-documentation/cortex-xdr-xql/functions/format_timestamp.md).

# format\_timestamp

**Syntax**

```programlisting
format_timestamp("<format string>", <timestamp field>)
```

```programlisting
format_timestamp("<format string>", <timestamp field>, "<time zone>")
```

**Description**

The `format_timestamp()` function returns a string after formatting a timestamp according to a specified string format. The `<time zone>` is optional to configure using an hours offset, such as “+08:00”, or using a time zone name from the [List of Supported Time Zones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones), such as "America/Chicago". The `format_timestamp()` function should include an [alter](/cortex-xdr-3.x/cortex-xdr-3.x-documentation/cortex-xdr-xql/stages/alter.md) stage. For more information, see the examples below.

**Examples**

* **Without a time zone configured**

  Returns a maximum of 100 `xdr_data` records, which includes a string field called `new_time` in the format `YYYY/MM/dd HH:mm:ss`, such as 2021/11/12 12:10:30. This format is detailed in the `format_timestamp` function, which defines retrieving the new\_time (`%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S`) from the `_time` field.

  ```programlisting
  dataset = xdr_data
  | alter new_time = format_timestamp("%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S", _time) 
  | fields new_time 
  | limit 100
  ```
* **With a time zone configured using an hours offset**

  Returns a maximum of 100 `xdr_data` records, which includes a string field called new\_time in the format YYYY/MM/dd HH:flag\_mm:ss, such as 2021/11/12 01:53:35. This format is detailed in the `format_timestamp` function, which defines the retrieving the new\_time (`%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S`) from the `_time` field and adding +03:00 hours as the time zone format.

  ```programlisting
  dataset = xdr_data  
  | alter new_time = format_timestamp("%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S", _time, "+03:00") 
  | fields new_time 
  | limit 100
  ```
* **With a time zone name configured**

  Returns a maximum of 100 `xdr_data` records, which includes a string field called `new_time` in the format `YYYY/MM/dd HH:mm:ss`, such as `2021/11/12 01:53:35`. This format is detailed in the `format_timestamp` function, which defines the retrieving the `new_time` (`%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S`) from the `_time` field, and includes an "America/Chicago" time zone.

  ```programlisting
  dataset = xdr_data 
  | fields _time
  | alter new_time = format_timestamp("%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S", _time, "America/Chicago")
  | fields new_time
  | limit 100
  ```


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