GETDATE()

Returns the current database system timestamp as a datetime value.

Syntax

GETDATE ( )

Description

GETDATE() returns the current date and time of the server on which SQL Server is running. This value is a datetime data type. It reflects the time when the function is executed within the current session.

Return Value

Returns the current system date and time.

Data Type: datetime

Examples

1. Get the current date and time

SELECT GETDATE();

This will return a result similar to:

2023-10-27 10:30:55.123

2. Insert the current date and time into a table

Assuming you have a table named Orders with a column OrderDate of type datetime:

INSERT INTO Orders (OrderDate, CustomerID) VALUES (GETDATE(), 101);

Remarks

GETDATE() is a nondeterministic function. Every time GETDATE() is called within a single statement, it may return a different value.
GETDATE() is equivalent to SYSDATETIME() in terms of the value returned. However, SYSDATETIME() has a larger range and higher precision.
For compatibility with earlier versions of SQL Server, GETDATE() is supported.
You can use functions like DATEADD, DATEDIFF, and DATENAME to manipulate and extract parts of the date and time returned by GETDATE().