MySQL DATEDIFF: Calculate Days Between Two Dates

MySQL get/find/calculate the difference between two dates; In this tutorial, we would love to share with you how to use the MySQL DATEDIFF function to find or get difference between two dates in days.

MySQL DATEDIFF function; This DATEDIFF() function is used to get the difference between the two specified date values and return days.

MySQL DATEDIFF: Find/Calculate Days Between Two Dates

Basically the MySQL DATEDIFF function gives the difference between days between two date values.

Syntax of MySQL DATEDIFF Function

The MySQL DATEDIFF syntax is:

DATEDIFF( date1, date2 )

Parameters of MySQL DATEDIFF function

date1 A date/datetime value
date2 A date/datetime value

Examples of MySQL DATEDIFF to Find/Calculate Days Between Two Dates in Days

The MySQL DATEDIFF is useful in many cases. For example, you can calculate an interval in those days that customers need to ship the products.

Example-1

When used with date values, only the date part is used to compare the date.

SELECT DATEDIFF('2019-10-10', '2019-02-15');


Output: 237

Example-2

When used with datatime values, only the date part is used to compare the date.

SELECT DATEDIFF('2019-5-10 11:41:14', '2019-02-15 12:10:08');

Output: 84

Example-3

Compare datetime and date values.

SELECT DATEDIFF('2019-4-10 11:41:14', '2019-02-15');

Output: 54

Must Know Date/Time Functions

List Of MySQL Date/Time Functions

Example-4

 Two more exmaple with dates

 mysql> SELECT DATEDIFF('2019-10-25', '2019-10-10');
 Output: 15

 mysql> SELECT DATEDIFF('2019-12-10', '2019-10-31');
 Output: 40

Example-5

The date should not be later than the second date on the first date. You can use the earlier date for the first argument and it will return a negative value.

 SELECT DATEDIFF('2018-12-31', '2019-10-10');

 Output: -283

Example-6

Here’s an example of using DATEDIFF() in a database query.

To calculate the number of days between created_at and updated_at of the users table, you use the DATEDIFF function as follows:

SELECT 
     user_id, 
     DATEDIFF(created_at, updated_at) daysDiff
 FROM
     users
 ORDER BY daysDiff DESC;

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you have learned how to use MySQL DATEDIFF function to calculate the number of days between two date values.