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pythonpandasdataframedatetimetype-conversion

Convert DataFrame column type from string to datetime

How can I convert a DataFrame column of strings (in dd/mm/yyyy format) to datetime dtype?

Solution

  • The easiest way is to use to_datetime:

    df['col'] = pd.to_datetime(df['col'])

    It also offers a dayfirst argument for European times (but beware this isn't strict).

    Here it is in action:

    In [11]: pd.to_datetime(pd.Series(['05/23/2005']))
Out[11]:
0   2005-05-23 00:00:00
dtype: datetime64[ns]

    You can pass a specific format:

    In [12]: pd.to_datetime(pd.Series(['05/23/2005']), format="%m/%d/%Y")
Out[12]:
0   2005-05-23
dtype: datetime64[ns]