PostgreSQL Tutorial: NOW Function

September 17, 2023

Summary: This tutorial shows you how to use the PostgreSQL NOW() function to get the date and time with time zone.

Table of Contents

Introduction to PostgreSQL NOW() function

The NOW() function returns the current date and time. The return type of the NOW() function is the timestamp with time zone. See the following example:

SELECT NOW();

              now
-------------------------------
 2017-03-18 08:21:36.175627+07
(1 row)

Note that the NOW() function returns current date and time based on the database server’s time zone setting.

For example, if we change the timezone to ‘America/Los_Angeles’:

SET TIMEZONE='America/Los_angeles';

And get the current date and time:

SELECT NOW();

              now
-------------------------------
 2017-03-17 18:29:21.758315-07
(1 row)

As you can see, the value returned by the NOW() function is adjusted to the new timezone.

If you want get the current date and time without timezone, you can cast it explicitly as follows:

SELECT NOW()::timestamp;

            now
----------------------------
 2017-03-17 18:37:29.229991
(1 row)

You can use the common date and time operator to the NOW() function. For example, to get 1 hour from now:

SELECT (NOW() + interval '1 hour') AS an_hour_later;

         an_hour_later
-------------------------------
 2017-03-17 19:42:37.110567-07
(1 row)

To get this time tomorrow, you add 1 day to the current time:

SELECT (NOW() + interval '1 day') AS this_time_tomorrow;

      this_time_tomorrow
-------------------------------
 2017-03-17 19:43:35.178882-07
(1 row)

To get 2 hours 30 minutes ago, you use the minus (-) operator as follows:

SELECT now() - interval '2 hours 30 minutes' AS two_hour_30_min_go;

      two_hour_30_min_go
-------------------------------
 2017-03-17 16:17:07.742688-07
(1 row)

Besides the NOW() function, you can use the CURRENT_TIME or CURRENT_TIMESTAMP to get the current date and time with timezone:

SELECT CURRENT_TIME, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP;

       timetz       |              now
--------------------+-------------------------------
 18:50:51.191353-07 | 2017-03-17 18:50:51.191353-07
(1 row)

To get the current date and time without time zone, you use the LOCALTIME and LOCALTIMESTAMP functions.

SELECT LOCALTIME, LOCALTIMESTAMP;

      time       |         timestamp
-----------------+----------------------------
 19:13:41.423371 | 2017-03-17 19:13:41.423371
(1 row)

Notice that NOW() and its related functions return the start time of the current transaction. In other words, the return values of the function calls are the same within a transaction.

The following example illustrates the concept:

postgres=# BEGIN;
BEGIN
postgres=# SELECT now();
              now
-------------------------------
 2017-03-17 19:21:43.049715-07
(1 row)

postgres=# SELECT pg_sleep(3);
 pg_sleep
----------

(1 row)

postgres=# SELECT now();
              now
-------------------------------
 2017-03-17 19:21:43.049715-07
(1 row)

postgres=# COMMIT;
COMMIT

In this example, we called the NOW() function within a transaction and as you can see its return values do not change through the transaction.

Note that the pg_sleep() function pauses the current session’s process sleep a specified of seconds.

If you want to get the current date and time that does advance during the transaction, you can use the TIMEOFDAY() function. Consider the following example:

SELECT
    TIMEOFDAY(),
    pg_sleep(5),
    TIMEOFDAY();

              timeofday              | pg_sleep |              timeofday
-------------------------------------+----------+-------------------------------------
 Fri Mar 17 19:36:09.216064 2017 PDT |          | Fri Mar 17 19:36:14.217636 2017 PDT
(1 row)

As you see, after pausing 5 seconds, the current date and time increased.

PostgreSQL NOW() function as default values

You can use the NOW() function as the default value for a column of a table. See the following example:

First, create a new table named posts with the created_at column that has a default value provided by the NOW() function:

CREATE TABLE posts ( 
     id         SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, 
     title      VARCHAR NOT NULL, 
     created_at TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT Now() 
);

Second, insert a new row into the posts table:

INSERT INTO posts (title)
    VALUES ('PostgreSQL NOW function');

Third, query data from the posts table:

SELECT * FROM posts;

 id |          title          |          created_at
----+-------------------------+-------------------------------
  1 | PostgreSQL NOW function | 2017-03-18 09:41:26.208497+07
(1 row)

Even though we did not provide the value for the created_at column, the statement used the value returned by the NOW() function for that column.

In this tutorial, you have learned how to use the PostgreSQL NOW() function to get the current date and time with timezone.

See more

PostgreSQL Tutorial: Date Functions

PostgreSQL Documentation: Date/Time Functions and Operators

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