CURRENT_DATE / NOW

Returns the current date (standard SQL).

SELECT CURRENT_DATE;

Returns the current time (standard SQL).

SELECT CURRENT_TIME;

Returns the current datetime (standard SQL).

SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP;

Returns the current datetime (MySQL function).

SELECT NOW();

Returns the datetime at the moment the query executes (MySQL).

SELECT SYSDATE();

The following examples use the members table.

Retrieves the current date.

sample_current_date_now.sql

SELECT CURRENT_DATE AS today;

+------------+
| today      |
+------------+
| 2026-03-16 |
+------------+
1 row in set

Retrieves the current datetime.

sample_current_date_now.sql

SELECT NOW() AS current_datetime;

+---------------------+
| current_datetime    |
+---------------------+
| 2026-03-16 14:32:07 |
+---------------------+
1 row in set

Retrieves members whose subscription is still valid (expire date is today or later).

sample_current_date_now.sql

SELECT member_id, name, expire_date
FROM members
WHERE expire_date >= CURRENT_DATE;

+-----------+--------+-------------+
| member_id | name   | expire_date |
+-----------+--------+-------------+
|         1 | user_a | 2026-03-31  |
|         3 | user_e | 2026-06-30  |
+-----------+--------+-------------+
2 rows in set

Updates the expiration date to the current datetime.

sample_current_date_now.sql

UPDATE members
SET expire_date = NOW()
WHERE member_id = 2;

Query OK, 1 row affected (0.01 sec)

The following is an example:

SELECT member_id, name, expire_date
FROM members
WHERE member_id = 2;

+-----------+--------+---------------------+
| member_id | name   | expire_date         |
+-----------+--------+---------------------+
|         2 | user_c | 2026-03-16 14:32:07 |
+-----------+--------+---------------------+
1 row in set

Retrieves members whose membership has expired.

sample_current_date_now.sql

SELECT member_id, name, expire_date
FROM members
WHERE expire_date < CURRENT_DATE;

+-----------+--------+-------------+
| member_id | name   | expire_date |
+-----------+--------+-------------+
|         2 | user_c | 2025-12-31  |
+-----------+--------+-------------+
1 row in set

CURRENT_DATE, CURRENT_TIME, and CURRENT_TIMESTAMP are standard SQL expressions supported by MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite.

SELECT CURRENT_DATE;
SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP;

In Oracle, CURRENT_DATE returns a datetime value. If you only need the date portion, use TRUNC(SYSDATE). To retrieve the current datetime, use SYSDATE.

-- Retrieves the current datetime (Oracle).
SELECT SYSDATE FROM DUAL;

-- Retrieves the current timestamp (Oracle).
SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP FROM DUAL;

In SQL Server, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP is available. For higher-precision datetime values, use SYSDATETIME(). Since CURRENT_DATE is not supported, use CAST(GETDATE() AS DATE) as an alternative.

-- Retrieves the current datetime (SQL Server).
SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP;
SELECT GETDATE();

-- Retrieves the current date only (SQL Server).
SELECT CAST(GETDATE() AS DATE);

CURRENT_DATE, CURRENT_TIME, and CURRENT_TIMESTAMP are expressions defined in standard SQL and work in both MySQL and PostgreSQL. NOW(), on the other hand, is a MySQL-specific function that returns the time at which the statement began. It returns the same value across multiple calls within a transaction, ensuring consistency.

SYSDATE() returns the actual time of SQL execution, so it may return different values within the same statement each time it is called. In most cases, using NOW() is the safer choice.

To add or subtract dates, see DATE_ADD / DATEDIFF. To extract the year or month from a date, see EXTRACT / FORMAT.