SQL Server Code Example

Using the DateDiff Function

A practical SQL Server date and time example for Using the DateDiff Function.

Example and Notes

Use this SQL Server example as a starting point for development, troubleshooting, reporting, or maintenance work. Review it against your schema, data volume, permissions, and SQL Server version before using it in production.

The DateDiff function is a powerful SQL function you can use to manipulate and work with dates. For example, you may want to find the difference between two dates in the number of days, hours, minutes, etc. The example scripts below will show you how to find specific intervals between dates.

Unit of time Query Result

NANOSECOND SELECT DATEDIFF(NANOSECOND,'2018-12-01 17:15:22.5500000','2018-12-01 17:15:22.55432133') 4321300



MICROSECOND SELECT DATEDIFF(MICROSECOND,'2018-12-01 17:15:22.5500000','2018-12-01 17:15:22.55432133') 4321



MILLISECOND SELECT DATEDIFF(MILLISECOND,'2018-12-01 17:15:22.004','2018-12-01 17:15:22.548') 544


SECOND SELECT DATEDIFF(SECOND,'2018-12-01 17:15:30','2018-12-01 17:16:23') 53


MINUTE SELECT DATEDIFF(MINUTE,'2018-12-01 18:03:23','2018-12-01 17:15:30') -48


HOUR SELECT DATEDIFF(HH,'2018-12-01 18:03:23','2018-12-01 20:15:30') 2


WEEK SELECT DATEDIFF(WK,'09/23/2018 15:00:00','12/11/2018 14:00:00') 12


DAY SELECT DATEDIFF(DD,'09/23/2018 15:00:00','08/02/2018 14:00:00') -52


DAYOFYEAR SELECT DATEDIFF(DY,'01/01/2018 15:00:00','08/02/2018 14:00:00') 213


MONTH SELECT DATEDIFF(MM,'11/02/2018 15:00:00','01/01/2018 14:00:00') -10


QUARTER SELECT DATEDIFF(QQ,'01/02/2018 15:00:00','08/01/2018 14:00:00') 2


YEAR SELECT DATEDIFF(YY,'01/02/2013 15:00:00','01/01/2018 14:00:00') 5

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