> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs-v3.toucantoco.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs-v3.toucantoco.com/data-management-in-datahub/datasets-in-toucan/preparing-data/overview-of-youprep-tm/date/convert-text-to-date.md).

# Convert text to date

The Convert text to date step allows to cast a text column to date

### Step parameters

* `Column to convert` **column(string)\***: the text column to be converted to date
* `format` **(string)\***: either `Try to guess` (the backend tries to infer the date format of your column), `Custom` (to allow you to enter a custom format in the `custom format` parameter below), or a preset (e.g. “%d-%m-%Y”).

### Example

**Input**

<figure><img src="https://1809014303-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FZxYYf1KpgarKMgMsDCrw%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-ea19e8d8b6bc18b5733e8e4fdeaaa142b1d47387%2Fdate_uat.png?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption><p>Date - Convert text to date input</p></figcaption></figure>

**Configuration**

```json
{
    "date": "text_date",
    "format": "Try to guess"
}
```

**Result**

<figure><img src="https://1809014303-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FZxYYf1KpgarKMgMsDCrw%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-4e8ffa4a933e547af74d6758183db4c85a035aa9%2Fdate_text-to-date.png?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption><p>Date - Convert text to date output</p></figcaption></figure>


---

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