---
title: Date Field
label: Date
order: 70
desc: The Date field type stores a Date in the database. Learn how to use and customize the Date field, see examples and options.
keywords: date, fields, config, configuration, documentation, Content Management System, cms, headless, javascript, node, react, nextjs
---
The Date field type saves a Date in the database and provides the Admin Panel with a customizable
time picker interface.
This field uses [`react-datepicker`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/react-datepicker) for the Admin Panel component.
## Config
| Option | Description |
| ---------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **`name`** \* | To be used as the property name when stored and retrieved from the database. [More](/docs/fields/overview#field-names) |
| **`label`** | Text used as a field label in the Admin Panel or an object with keys for each language. |
| **`index`** | Build an [index](/docs/database/overview) for this field to produce faster queries. Set this field to `true` if your users will perform queries on this field's data often. |
| **`validate`** | Provide a custom validation function that will be executed on both the Admin Panel and the backend. [More](/docs/fields/overview#validation) |
| **`saveToJWT`** | If this field is top-level and nested in a config supporting [Authentication](/docs/authentication/config), include its data in the user JWT. |
| **`hooks`** | Provide field-based hooks to control logic for this field. [More](/docs/fields/overview#field-level-hooks) |
| **`access`** | Provide field-based access control to denote what users can see and do with this field's data. [More](/docs/fields/overview#field-level-access-control) |
| **`hidden`** | Restrict this field's visibility from all APIs entirely. Will still be saved to the database, but will not appear in any API or the Admin Panel. |
| **`defaultValue`** | Provide data to be used for this field's default value. [More](/docs/fields/overview#default-values) |
| **`localized`** | Enable localization for this field. Requires [localization to be enabled](/docs/configuration/localization) in the Base config. |
| **`required`** | Require this field to have a value. |
| **`admin`** | Admin-specific configuration. See below for [more detail](#admin-config). |
| **`custom`** | Extension point for adding custom data (e.g. for plugins) |
| **`typescriptSchema`** | Override field type generation with providing a JSON schema |
_\* An asterisk denotes that a property is required._
## Admin Config
In addition to the default [field admin config](/docs/fields/overview#admin-config), you can customize the following fields that will adjust how the component displays in the admin panel via the `date` property.
| Property | Description |
| ------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **`placeholder`** | Placeholder text for the field. |
| **`date`** | Pass options to customize date field appearance. |
| **`date.displayFormat`** | Format date to be shown in field **cell**. |
| **`date.pickerAppearance`** \* | Determines the appearance of the datepicker: `dayAndTime` `timeOnly` `dayOnly` `monthOnly`. |
| **`date.monthsToShow`** \* | Number of months to display max is 2. Defaults to 1. |
| **`date.minDate`** \* | Min date value to allow. |
| **`date.maxDate`** \* | Max date value to allow. |
| **`date.minTime`** \* | Min time value to allow. |
| **`date.maxTime`** \* | Max date value to allow. |
| **`date.overrides`** \* | Pass any valid props directly to the [react-datepicker](https://github.com/Hacker0x01/react-datepicker/blob/master/docs/datepicker.md) |
| **`date.timeIntervals`** \* | Time intervals to display. Defaults to 30 minutes. |
| **`date.timeFormat`** \* | Determines time format. Defaults to `'h:mm aa'`. |
_\* This property is passed directly to [react-datepicker](https://github.com/Hacker0x01/react-datepicker/blob/master/docs/datepicker.md). ._
### Display Format and Picker Appearance
These properties only affect how the date is displayed in the UI. The full date is always stored in the format `YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.SSSZ` (e.g. `1999-01-01T8:00:00.000+05:00`).
`displayFormat` determines how the date is presented in the field **cell**, you can pass any valid (unicode date format)[https://date-fns.org/v2.29.3/docs/format].
`pickerAppearance` sets the appearance of the **react datepicker**, the options available are `dayAndTime`, `dayOnly`, `timeOnly`, and `monthOnly`. By default, the datepicker will display `dayOnly`.
When only `pickerAppearance` is set, an equivalent format will be rendered in the date field cell. To overwrite this format, set `displayFormat`.
## Example
`collections/ExampleCollection.ts`
```ts
import { CollectionConfig } from 'payload/types'
export const ExampleCollection: CollectionConfig = {
slug: 'example-collection',
fields: [
{
name: 'dateOnly',
type: 'date',
admin: {
date: {
pickerAppearance: 'dayOnly',
displayFormat: 'd MMM yyy',
},
},
},
{
name: 'timeOnly',
type: 'date',
admin: {
date: {
pickerAppearance: 'timeOnly',
displayFormat: 'h:mm:ss a',
},
},
},
{
name: 'monthOnly',
type: 'date',
admin: {
date: {
pickerAppearance: 'monthOnly',
displayFormat: 'MMMM yyyy',
},
},
},
],
}
```