SQL Server GETUTCDATE Function

By: Daniel Calbimonte

The GETUTCDATE() function returns the system timestamp using the datetime format. This function returns the date and time in UTC format. UTC stands for Coordinated Universal Time and is the successor to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Syntax

GETUTCDATE()

Parameters

• No parameters required

Simple GETUTCDATE() Example

The following example will show the current server datetime in UTC format.

SELECT GETUTCDATE() as date

Difference between GETUTCDATE() , CURRENT_TIMESTAMP and GETDATE()

The following example shows the difference of 5 hours on my machine between GETUTCDATE() and GETDATE().

SELECT DATEDIFF(HOUR, GETDATE(), GETUTCDATE()) as difference

Following is the output from each of these functions.

SELECT GETUTCDATE() as getutcdate, GETDATE() as getdate, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP as current_timestamp

We can see that GETDATE() and CURRENT_TIMESTAMP are the same, but CURRENT_TIMESTAMP  is 5 hours ahead.

How to set the GETUTCDATE() in a custom format

The following example will show the GETUTCDATE() in dddd-MMMM yyyy hh:mm:ss tt format.

SELECT FORMAT(GETUTCDATE(), 'dddd-MMMM yyyy hh:mm:ss tt') as formatdate

How to set the GETUTCDATE() with a different Cultural Format

The following example will set the GETUTCDATE to the Spanish date format.

SELECT FORMAT(GETUTCDAY(), 'dddd dd, MMMM, yyyy', 'ES-es') as spanish

Use GETUTCDATE() with Table Data

The following example, will show the products with startdate between 7 and 8 years ago.

SELECT Productid, DATEDIFF(YEAR, StartDate, GETUTCDATE()) as years
FROM Production.ProductCostHistory
WHERE DATEDIFF(YEAR, StartDate, GETUTCDATE()) BETWEEN 7 AND 8

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• SQL Convert Date to YYYYMMDD
• SQL Server DIFFERENCE Function
• SQL Server CONCAT Function
• Format SQL Server Dates with FORMAT Function
• DATEDIFF SQL Server Function