Forum Discussion
Date Formatting - Limited Options
I believe this changed with the most recent update, but why are the date formatting options severely limited now? My default format in dashboards was "mmm dd". Now to get that result, I have to create a new column with it formatted as text, and sort the column by the original date column. This does not always work, or I get weird errors about more than one value, so it can't sort. "mmmm dd" just doesn't hit the same with those longer month names.
I very much miss the feature of just typing in which format you wanted. Am I the only one facing this? Am I missing something?
5 Replies
- krishnakanth240
Super User
Hi Specker
Yes, recent update trimmed the date format to preset removing free text custom string box it used to have. Workaround is to set your custom format in Data view from the date column using Format box on Modeling ribbon. Sorting error is happening as mmm dd drops year, so if data spans multiple years then duplicate labels like Jan 15 can not map to single sort position, you can try adding a calculated column - YEAR*10000+MONTH*100+DAY as Sort By field
Murtaza_GhafoorHi Specker ,
This is power BI default formatting options available, however Power BI supports custom formatting options.Select your original Date column.
- Go to Model view.
- Select the column.
- In the Properties / Formatting area, look for Format.
- Choose Custom.
Enter: mmm dd
This should display
- Jan 05
- Feb 06
- Apr 07
If this helps, ✓ Mark as Kudos | Help Other
- FarhanJeelani
Hi Specker ,
Please use the below option:
Please mark this post as solution if it helps you. Appreciate Kudos.
- ShivekMaharaj
Solution Sage
Hi Specker,
You shouldn't need to create a separate text column for this.
The custom format option still exists, but in the newer visual formatting experience you can set it under Format visual → General → Data format, select your Date field, choose Custom, and enter the format code there.
One small gotcha with the current implementation: Microsoft's custom format string documentation says visual-level date formatting currently uses .NET syntax, so use:
MMM ddrather than.
mmm ddAt the visual level, uppercase M represents the month.
If you set the format at the model level instead, Power BI currently uses the VBA-style syntax, where mmm dd is valid.
Either way, I would format the original Date column rather than create a text version with FORMAT(). That keeps the underlying field as a real date, so chronological sorting still works correctly.
AI-assisted drafting: AI was used to help structure and phrase this response. I reviewed and validated the technical content before posting.
- danextian
You can always use a custom date format which can be applied globally or just within the visual. Note: Custom data format within the visual for month requires uppercase M.
