FORMAT()
FORMAT() is a SQL function in the SQL Server Specific category. SQL Server 2012+: formats a value (date, number) with .NET format strings and optional culture. The syntax is FORMAT(value, format_string [, culture]). It accepts value, format_string. It returns formatted string. A typical example: SELECT FORMAT(GETDATE(), 'yyyy-MM-dd'); -- '2026-06-06' SELECT FORMAT(GETDATE(), 'D', 'en-US'); -- 'Saturday, June 6, 2026' SELECT FORMAT(GETDATE(), 'D', 'de-DE'); -- 'Samstag, 6. Juni 2026' SELECT FORMAT(1234567.89, 'N2'); -- '1,234,567.89' SELECT FORMAT(0.5, 'P1'); -- '50.0 %' A close relative is OUTPUT Clause, which sQL Server: returns values from DML statements (like PostgreSQL RETURNING). A close relative is STUFF(), which sQL Server: deletes a specified length of characters from a string and inserts another string at the start position. A close relative is FOR XML PATH, which sQL Server: converts query results to XML format. Commonly used for string concatenation hack. More about this category: SQL Server-specific features — T-SQL, OUTPUT, TOP, PIVOT, STUFF, FOR XML.