How can I String.Format a TimeSpan object with a custom format in .NET?

by

Please note: this answer is for .Net 4.0 and above. If you want to format a TimeSpan in .Net 3.5 or below please see JohannesH’s answer.

Custom TimeSpan format strings were introduced in .Net 4.0. You can find a full reference of available format specifiers at the MSDN Custom TimeSpan Format Strings page.

Here’s an example timespan format string:

string.Format("{0:hh\\:mm\\:ss}", myTimeSpan); //example output 15:36:15

(UPDATE) and here is an example using C# 6 string interpolation:

$"{myTimeSpan:hh\\:mm\\:ss}"; //example output 15:36:15

You need to escape the “:” character with a “\” (which itself must be escaped unless you’re using a verbatim string).

This excerpt from the MSDN Custom TimeSpan Format Strings page explains about escaping the “:” and “.” characters in a format string:

The custom TimeSpan format specifiers do not include placeholder separator symbols, such as the symbols that separate days from hours, hours from minutes, or seconds from fractional seconds. Instead, these symbols must be included in the custom format string as string literals. For example, “dd.hh:mm” defines a period (.) as the separator between days and hours, and a colon (:) as the separator between hours and minutes.

More Related Contents:

  1. How to escape braces (curly brackets) in a format string in .NET
  2. Format Strings in Console.WriteLine method
  3. Making a List in C# with three flexible elements in one datatype
  4. How do I get a consistent byte representation of strings in C# without manually specifying an encoding?
  5. In C#, should I use string.Empty or String.Empty or “” to intitialize a string?
  6. C# string replace does not actually replace the value in the string [duplicate]
  7. Algorithm to detect overlapping periods [duplicate]
  8. How do I replace the *first instance* of a string in .NET?
  9. Convert a list to a string in C#
  10. Best way to repeat a character in C#
  11. Are there any Fuzzy Search or String Similarity Functions libraries written for C#? [closed]
  12. Get the index of the nth occurrence of a string?
  13. Custom numeric format string to always display the sign
  14. How do I represent a time only value in .NET?
  15. How to compare Unicode characters that “look alike”?
  16. Getting hash of a list of strings regardless of order
  17. Memory Efficiency and Performance of String.Replace .NET Framework
  18. Parse C# string to DateTime
  19. Easier way of writing null or empty?
  20. What’s a good way of doing string templating in .NET?
  21. Fastest way to remove white spaces in string
  22. Convert binary string into integer
  23. DateTime conversion from string C#
  24. Why only literal strings saved in the intern pool by default?
  25. Remove characters after specific character in string, then remove substring?
  26. Checking for null before ToString()
  27. Byte to Binary String C# – Display all 8 digits
  28. How to use StringBuilder wisely?
  29. Does any one know of a faster method to do String.Split()?
  30. Formatting Numbers as Strings with Commas in place of Decimals

Leave a Comment