DATE_SUB
Subtracts a time interval from a date.
MySQL 8.1
DATE_SUB(date, INTERVAL expr unit)Parameters
- dateDATE
- Source date or datetime
- INTERVAL expr unitkeyword
- Interval to subtract: amount expr and unit, for example INTERVAL 1 MONTH
- Values:MICROSECONDSECONDMINUTEHOURDAYWEEKMONTHQUARTERYEARSECOND_MICROSECONDMINUTE_MICROSECONDMINUTE_SECONDHOUR_MICROSECONDHOUR_SECONDHOUR_MINUTEDAY_MICROSECONDDAY_SECONDDAY_MINUTEDAY_HOURYEAR_MONTH
Return value
A date if days or larger units are subtracted from a date, otherwise a datetime; if the month has no such day, its last day is used
Examples
Ten days before birthdays
MySQL 8.1
SELECT member_name,
birthday,
DATE_SUB(birthday, INTERVAL 10 DAY) AS reminder_date
FROM FamilyMembers;A month before March 31
MySQL 8.1
SELECT DATE_SUB('2024-03-31', INTERVAL 1 MONTH) AS new_date;Compound interval unit
MySQL 8.1
SELECT DATE_SUB('2022-06-16', INTERVAL '1 12' DAY_HOUR) AS new_date;Details
Instead of the function, you can add or subtract an interval with an operator: date + INTERVAL 7 DAY. PostgreSQL has no such function: a date is shifted with the same operator, but the interval is written as a string: date + INTERVAL '7 days'.