Parsing Dates with strptime() in Python

You’ve seen it before—some CSV or API gives you a weird string like "2025-04-10 15:45:00" and you think, “Cool, but how do I work with this?”

Say hello to strptime() — the friendly counterpart to strftime(). While strftime formats datetime objects into strings, strptime does the reverse: it parses strings into datetime objects.

strftime() can be read in detail here – https://brontowise.com/2025/05/18/mastering-strftime-in-python/

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strptime() Explained

strptime stands for:

String Parse Time
It allows you to convert a string representing a date/time into a proper datetime object that you can calculate with, format, or use in logic.

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Syntax:

from datetime import datetime

datetime.strptime(date_string, format)

• date_string: The raw date/time string.
• format: The pattern that tells Python how to read that string.

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Example 1: Parse a simple date string

from datetime import datetime

date_str = "2025-04-10"
parsed_date = datetime.strptime(date_str, "%Y-%m-%d")
print(parsed_date)
# Output: 2025-04-10 00:00:00

Boom 💥 — now parsed_date is a real datetime object.

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Example 2: Include time too

date_str = "10/04/2025 15:45"
parsed_date = datetime.strptime(date_str, "%d/%m/%Y %H:%M")
print(parsed_date)
# Output: 2025-04-10 15:45:00

Notice how the format string matches the structure of the input string exactly — that’s the trick to getting it right.

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Format Code Recap (Cheat Sheet)

Code	Meaning	Example
%Y	4-digit year	2025
%m	2-digit month	04
%d	2-digit day	10
%H	Hour (24-hour)	15
%M	Minute	45
%S	Second	00

You’ll often mix and match these depending on your input string.

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Example 3: Parsing logs

log_timestamp = "Apr 10 2025 03:45PM"
dt = datetime.strptime(log_timestamp, "%b %d %Y %I:%M%p")
print(dt)
# Output: 2025-04-10 15:45:00

Perfect for log parsing or building dashboards.

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⚠️ Gotchas to Watch Out For

• The format must match exactly — spacing, colons, slashes — everything.
• If there’s a mismatch, Python throws a ValueError.
• strptime() returns a datetime, not just a date. If you only want a date, use .date() on the result.

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📌 TL;DR

• Use strptime() to convert strings into datetime objects.
• Perfect for parsing dates from user input, APIs, or CSV files.
• Combine with strftime() for total datetime control.

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“Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.”
— Nathaniel Hawthorne