# Changing the date format

As the date formats used across the world are not the same, you may need to change the format used in a column containing dates.

## Procedure

1. Select a column containing dates.
2. In the Functions panel, click Change Date Format in the Suggestion part to open the options for the associated function.
3. From the New format drop-down list, select one of the predefined date formats, or Other in this example.

   ![](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/data-preparation-user-guide/Resources/images/change_date_format_1.png)

   See [Date Formats](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/data-preparation-user-guide/8.0/date-formats) for more information regarding the available options.
4. In the Your Format field, type dd/MM/yyyy to change the date from an American format to a French one.

   For example, this will change 12/25/2015 to 25/12/2015.

   When entering a custom format in this field, the values that are considered valid are actually defined by Java. See the [Java documentation](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/text/SimpleDateFormat.html) for more information on the supported date and time patterns.
5. Click Submit.

   You have the possibility to output the result of this function in a new column by selecting the Create new column check box.

## Results

The date format is changed in the selected column.

Information noteTip: This transformation can also be performed by using the [Automatically formatting data based on examples](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/data-preparation-user-guide/8.0/automatically-formatting-data-based-on-examples) function.