Formatting the Windows date in a filename.

calendar May 16, 2012 · 1 min read · microsoft windows  ·
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I’ve often needed to date an output file or backup folder created from a Windows script. The %DATE% variable cannot be used on it’s own because it returns a value with slashes in. This method formats it to the ISO standard YYYYMMDD

1echo %date:~6,4%-%date:~3,2%-%date:~0,2%
22012-05-16

Example- Backing up files to a dated folder

1robocopy "C:\My Source Documents\" "D:\My Backup Documents\%date:~6,4%-%date:~3,2%-%date:~0,2%\" /MIR