Ready-made examples
Examples are for Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 9:05 AM.
Snippet content
Types
%B %e, %Y
November 1, 2026 (the starter snippet ddate)
%1I:%M %p
9:05 AM (the starter snippet ttime)
%e %B %Y
1 November 2026 (day first)
%m/%d/%y
11/01/26
%m/%d/%Y
01/11/2026 (day first)
%Y-%m-%d
2026-11-01
%A, %B %e
Sunday, November 1
%a, %b %e
Sun, Nov 1
%H:%M
09:05
%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S
2026-11-01 09:05:00
Day %j of %Y
Day 305 of 2026
The full list of codes is in the Macro Reference. In the snippet editor, use Insert ▸ Date and Insert ▸ Time to pick them from a menu.
Month and weekday names and AM/PM follow your Mac’s language and region (System Settings ▸ General ▸ Language & Region).
Any format you like
%date:pattern% uses standard Unicode date patterns (Insert ▸ Date ▸ Custom format (Unicode)…).
Snippet content
Types
%date:yyyy-MM-dd%
2026-11-01
%date:EEEE, MMMM d%
Sunday, November 1
%date:'Week' w%
Week 45 in the US (week 44 where weeks start on Monday)
%date:QQQ yyyy%
Q4 2026
%date:h:mm a%
9:05 AM
In patterns, MM is the month and mm the minute. The pattern can’t contain a %.
Dates in the future or past
Put %@, a + or -, a number, and a unit before the date codes. Every date code after it is shifted.
Unit
Letter
Example
Years
Y
%@+1Y
Months
M (capital)
%@+3M
Days
D
%@+15D
Hours
h
%@+2h
Minutes
m (small)
%@+30m
Seconds
s
%@+45s
Examples
Snippet content
Types
Payment due %@+30D%B %e, %Y
Payment due December 1, 2026
Yesterday (%@-1D%A)
Yesterday (Saturday)
Back at %@+2h%1I:%M %p
Back at 11:05 AM
Offer ends %@+1M%B %e
Offer ends December 1
Need today and a later date in one snippet? Put today’s codes first, then %@ and the later date: Sent %m/%d. Reply by %@+7D%m/%d. types “Sent 11/01. Reply by 11/08.”
Only one shift is active at a time: a second %@ replaces the first (it doesn’t add to it), and it is counted from the current time.
Related: Macro Reference: dates · Fill-ins · Calculations & Conditions