description: Formats built-in Hugo dates---`.Date`, `.PublishDate`, and `.Lastmod`---according to Go's layout string.
date: 2017-02-01
publishdate: 2017-02-01
lastmod: 2017-02-01
categories: [functions]
menu:
docs:
parent: "functions"
keywords: [dates,time]
signature: [".Format FORMAT"]
workson: [times]
hugoversion:
relatedfuncs: [dateFormat,now,Unix,time]
deprecated: false
aliases: []
toc: true
---
`.Format` will format date values defined in your front matter and can be used as a property on the following [page variables][pagevars]:
*`.PublishDate`
*`.Date`
*`.Lastmod`
Assuming a key-value of `date: 2017-03-03` in a content file's front matter, your can run the date through `.Format` followed by a layout string for your desired output at build time:
```
{{ .PublishDate.Format "January 2, 2006" }} => March 3, 2017
```
For formatting *any* string representations of dates defined in your front matter, see the [`dateFormat` function][dateFormat], which will still leverage the Go layout string explained below but uses a slightly different syntax.
## Go's Layout String
Hugo templates [format your dates][time] via layout strings that point to a specific reference time:
```
Mon Jan 2 15:04:05 MST 2006
```
While this may seem arbitrary, the numerical value of `MST` is `07`, thus making the layout string a sequence of numbers.
Here is a visual explanation [taken directly from the Go docs][gdex]:
```
Jan 2 15:04:05 2006 MST
=> 1 2 3 4 5 6 -7
```
### Hugo Date and Time Templating Reference
The following examples show the layout string followed by the rendered output.
