FORMAT DAX Function (Text)
Converts a value to text in the specified number format.
Syntax
| Parameter | Attributes | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Value |
A number, or a formula that evaluates to a numeric value. |
|
| Format |
A number format that you specify. |
|
| LocaleName | Optional |
A locale name used when formatting the value. |
Return values
A string containing Value formatted as defined by Format string.
The result is always a string, even when the value is blank.
Remarks
For information on how to use the Format string parameter:
- Numbers: Use predefined numeric formats or create custom numeric formats.
- Dates and times: Use predefined date/time formats or create user-defined date/time formats.
The format strings supported as an argument to the DAX FORMAT function are based on the format strings used by Visual Basic (OLE Automation), not on the format strings used by the .NET Framework. Therefore, you might get unexpected results or an error if the argument does not match any defined format strings. For example, “p” as an abbreviation for “Percent” is not supported. Strings that you provide as an argument to the FORMAT function that are not included in the list of predefined format strings are handled as part of a custom format string, or as a string literal.
In order to make sure a literal is not interpreted as a format string, embed the literal between double quotes as in the examples.
The name of weekdays and months depends on the international settings of the database (or Power BI Desktop file).
The optional LocalName argument was introduced in 2022, and it is not available in SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) version earlier than 2022. The result of USERCULTURE can be used for the LocalName argument in order to use the culture from the user’s browser settings or operating system.
» 2 related functions
Examples
-- FORMAT is a formatting function that formats a value based
-- on a format string.
-- Use a backslash (\) to display the next character
-- in the format string.
EVALUATE
{
( "Percent", FORMAT ( 0.742, "Percent" ) ),
( "Currency (1)", FORMAT ( 1234.567, "$#,0.00" ) ),
( "Currency (2)", FORMAT ( 1234.567, """US$"" #,0.00" ) ),
( "Date (1)", FORMAT ( DATE ( 2019, 3, 28 ), "yyyy-mm-dd" ) ),
( "Date (2)", FORMAT ( DATE ( 2019, 3, 28 ), "m/d/yy" ) ),
( "Date (Q)", FORMAT ( DATE ( 2019, 3, 28 ), "\QQ yyyy" ) )
}
| Value1 | Value2 |
|---|---|
| Percent | 74.20% |
| Currency (1) | $1,234.57 |
| Currency (2) | US$ 1,234.57 |
| Date (1) | 2019-03-28 |
| Date (2) | 3/28/19 |
| Date (Q) | Q1 2019 |
-- FORMAT accepts a set of predefined format strings to format numbers
EVALUATE
{
( "General Number", FORMAT( 12345.67, "General Number" ) ),
( "Currency" , FORMAT( 12345.67, "Currency" ) ),
( "Fixed" , FORMAT( 12345.67, "Fixed" ) ),
( "Standard" , FORMAT( 12345.67, "Standard" ) ),
( "Percent" , FORMAT( 12345.67, "Percent" ) ),
( "Scientific" , FORMAT( 12345.67, "Scientific" ) ),
( "True/False" , FORMAT( TRUE, "True/False" ) ),
( "On/Off" , FORMAT( FALSE, "On/Off" ) ),
( "Yes/No" , FORMAT( TRUE, "Yes/No" ) )
}
| Value1 | Value2 |
|---|---|
| General Number | 12345.67 |
| Currency | $12,345.67 |
| Fixed | 12345.67 |
| Standard | 12,345.67 |
| Percent | 1234567.00% |
| Scientific | 1.23E+04 |
| True/False | True |
| On/Off | Off |
| Yes/No | Yes |
-- Regardless of the format string, if the value argument is
-- BLANK, FORMAT returns an empty string
EVALUATE
{
( "General Number", FORMAT ( BLANK (), "General Number" ) ),
( "Currency" , FORMAT ( BLANK (), "Currency" ) ),
( "Fixed" , FORMAT ( BLANK (), "Fixed" ) ),
( "Standard" , FORMAT ( BLANK (), "Standard" ) ),
( "Percent" , FORMAT ( BLANK (), "Percent" ) ),
( "Scientific" , FORMAT ( BLANK (), "Scientific" ) ),
( "True/False" , FORMAT ( BLANK (), "True/False" ) ),
( "On/Off" , FORMAT ( BLANK (), "On/Off" ) ),
( "Yes/No" , FORMAT ( BLANK (), "Yes/No" ) )
}
| Value1 | Value2 |
|---|---|
| General Number | |
| Currency | |
| Fixed | |
| Standard | |
| Percent | |
| Scientific | |
| True/False | |
| On/Off | |
| Yes/No |
-- Custom numeric format string can have up to 3 sections:
-- One section : applied to all the values
-- Two sections : first for positive and zero, second for negative
-- Three sections: first for positive, second for negative, third for zero
EVALUATE
{
( "Positive", FORMAT ( 1980.126, "#,0.00" ) ),
( "Negative", FORMAT ( -1980.1 , "#,0.00" ) ),
( "Zero", FORMAT ( 0 , "#,0.00" ) ),
( "Blank", FORMAT ( BLANK () , "#,0.00" ) )
}
EVALUATE
{
( "Positive", FORMAT ( 1980.126, "#,0.00;(#,0.00)" ) ),
( "Negative", FORMAT ( -1980.1 , "#,0.00;(#,0.00)" ) ),
( "Zero", FORMAT ( 0 , "#,0.00;(#,0.00)" ) ),
( "Blank", FORMAT ( BLANK () , "#,0.00;(#,0.00)" ) )
}
EVALUATE
{
( "Positive", FORMAT ( 1980.12, "#,#.##;(#,#.##);-" ) ),
( "Negative", FORMAT ( -1980.12, "#,#.##;(#,#.##);-" ) ),
( "Zero", FORMAT ( 0 , "#,#.##;(#,#.##);-" ) ),
( "Blank", FORMAT ( BLANK (), "#,#.##;(#,#.##);-" ) )
}
| Value1 | Value2 |
|---|---|
| Positive | 1,980.13 |
| Negative | -1,980.10 |
| Zero | 0.00 |
| Blank |
| Value1 | Value2 |
|---|---|
| Positive | 1,980.13 |
| Negative | (1,980.10) |
| Zero | 0.00 |
| Blank |
| Value1 | Value2 |
|---|---|
| Positive | 1,980.12 |
| Negative | (1,980.12) |
| Zero | – |
| Blank |
-- FORMAT accepts a set of predefined format strings for Date/Time
DEFINE
VAR D = DATE ( 2021, 1, 2 )
VAR T = TIME ( 15, 30, 0 )
VAR DT = D + T
EVALUATE
{
( "General Date", FORMAT ( DT, "General Date" ) ),
( "Long Date" , FORMAT ( DT, "Long Date" ) ),
( "Medium Date" , FORMAT ( DT, "Medium Date" ) ),
( "Short Date" , FORMAT ( DT, "Short Date" ) ),
( "Long Time" , FORMAT ( DT, "Long Time" ) ),
( "Medium Time" , FORMAT ( DT, "Medium Time" ) ),
( "Short Time" , FORMAT ( DT, "Short Time" ) )
}
| Value1 | Value2 |
|---|---|
| General Date | 1/2/2021 3:30:00 PM |
| Long Date | Saturday, January 2, 2021 |
| Medium Date | 02-Jan-21 |
| Short Date | 1/2/2021 |
| Long Time | 3:30:00 PM |
| Medium Time | 03:30 PM |
| Short Time | 15:30 |
-- You can use simple date formatting composing the format string
-- with dd, mm, yyyy, hh, mm and ss.
-- The "c" format string adapts to the value, showing what is relevant
DEFINE
VAR D = DATE ( 2020, 1, 2 )
VAR T = TIME ( 15, 30, 0 )
VAR DT = D + T
EVALUATE
{
( "dd/mm/yyyy" , FORMAT ( DT, "dd/mm/yyyy" ) ),
( "hh:nn:ss" , FORMAT ( DT, "hh:nn:ss" ) ), -- "nn" for minutes
( "hh:mm:ss" , FORMAT ( DT, "hh:mm:ss" ) ), -- "mm" works too, if hh before
( "c (full)" , FORMAT ( DT, "c" ) ),
( "c (Date only)", FORMAT ( D, "c" ) ),
( "c (Time only)", FORMAT ( T, "c" ) )
}
| Value1 | Value2 |
|---|---|
| dd/mm/yyyy | 02/01/2020 |
| hh:nn:ss | 15:30:00 |
| hh:mm:ss | 15:30:00 |
| c (full) | 1/2/2020 3:30:00 PM |
| c (Date only) | 1/2/2020 |
| c (Time only) | 3:30:00 PM |
-- You need two FORMAT functions for a duration longer than one day
-- The first FORMAT returns the number of days,
-- the second FORMAT displays the duration in hours/minutes/seconds
DEFINE
VAR StartEvent = DATE ( 2020, 1, 2 ) + TIME ( 15, 30, 0 )
VAR EndEvent = DATE ( 2020, 1, 4 ) + TIME ( 6, 18, 42 )
VAR DurationEvent = EndEvent - StartEvent
EVALUATE
{
FORMAT ( INT ( DurationEvent ), "0:" ) & FORMAT ( DurationEvent, "hh:nn:ss" )
}
| Value |
|---|
| 1:14:48:42 |
-- The "m" format string offers many options, depending on the
-- number of consecutive m
DEFINE
VAR D = DATE ( 2020, 1, 2 )
EVALUATE
{
( "m" , FORMAT ( D, "m" ) ), -- 1 or 2 digits
( "mm" , FORMAT ( D, "mm" ) ), -- always 2 digits
( "mmm" , FORMAT ( D, "mmm" ) ), -- short day of month
( "mmmm" , FORMAT ( D, "mmmm" ) ) -- long day of month
}
| Value1 | Value2 |
|---|---|
| m | 1 |
| mm | 01 |
| mmm | Jan |
| mmmm | January |
-- The "d" format string offers many options, depending on the
-- number of consecutive d
DEFINE
VAR D = DATE ( 2020, 1, 9 )
EVALUATE
{
( "d" , FORMAT ( D, "d" ) ), -- 1 or 2 digits
( "dd" , FORMAT ( D, "dd" ) ), -- always 2 digits
( "ddd" , FORMAT ( D, "ddd" ) ), -- short day of week
( "dddd" , FORMAT ( D, "dddd" ) ), -- long day of week
( "ddddd" , FORMAT ( D, "ddddd" ) ), -- short date
( "dddddd" , FORMAT ( D, "dddddd" ) ) -- long date
}
| Value1 | Value2 |
|---|---|
| d | 9 |
| dd | 09 |
| ddd | Thu |
| dddd | Thursday |
| ddddd | 1/9/2020 |
| dddddd | Thursday, January 9, 2020 |
-- The third optional argument specifies the locale identifier
EVALUATE {
FORMAT( dt"2020-12-15T12:30:59", BLANK(), "en-US" ),
FORMAT( dt"2020-12-15T12:30:59", BLANK(), "en-GB" ),
FORMAT( dt"2020-12-15T12:30:59", "mm/dd/yyyy", "en-GB" ),
FORMAT( dt"2020-12-15T12:30:59", "dd mmmm yyyy", "en-US" ),
FORMAT( dt"2020-12-15T12:30:59", "dd mmmm yyyy", "pt-BR" ),
FORMAT( dt"2020-12-15T12:30:59", "dd mmmm yyyy", "ru-RU" ),
FORMAT( 1234.567, "#,0.00", "en-US" ), -- Use comma as thousand separator and dot as decimal separator
FORMAT( 1234.567, "#,0.00", "de-DE" ) -- Use dot as thousand separator and comma as decimal separator
}
| Value |
|---|
| 12/15/2020 12:30:59 PM |
| 15/12/2020 12:30:59 |
| 12/15/2020 |
| 15 December 2020 |
| 15 dezembro 2020 |
| 15 декабря 2020 |
| 1,234.57 |
| 1.234,57 |
-- Consecutive commas not followed by 0 before the decimal point
-- divide the number by 1,000 for each comma
EVALUATE
VAR BigNumber = 103456789102
RETURN
{
FORMAT ( BigNumber, "$#,0" ), -- Units
FORMAT ( BigNumber, "$#,0,.0#K" ), -- Thousand
FORMAT ( BigNumber, "$#,0,,.0#M" ), -- Million
FORMAT ( BigNumber, "$#,0,,,.0#B" ), -- Billion
FORMAT ( BigNumber, "$#,0,,,,.0#T" ) -- Trillion
}
| Value |
|---|
| $103,456,789,102 |
| $103,456,789.1K |
| $103,456.79M |
| $103.46B |
| $0.1T |
-- Dynamically select the format string
-- based on the order of magnitude of the value
DEFINE
TABLE Numbers = { 103, 10345, 103456, 1034567, 103456789, 134897891, 103456789102, 103499789102, 1034567891023 }
MEASURE Numbers[SkipThousands] =
VAR CurrentNumber =
SELECTEDVALUE ( Numbers[Value] )
VAR LogRatio =
IF ( CurrentNumber > 0, DIVIDE ( LOG ( CurrentNumber ), LOG ( 1000 ) ) )
RETURN
ROUNDDOWN ( DIVIDE ( LOG10 ( CurrentNumber ), 3 ), 0 )
MEASURE Numbers[ValueFormatString] =
SWITCH (
[SkipThousands],
0, "$#,0", -- Integer number
1, "$#,0,.0#K", -- Thousand
2, "$#,0,,.0#M", -- Million
3, "$#,0,,,.0#B", -- Billion
"$#,0,,,,.0#T" -- Trillion
)
EVALUATE
ADDCOLUMNS (
Numbers,
"Formatted Value", FORMAT ( Numbers[Value], [ValueFormatString] ),
"Format String", [ValueFormatString]
)
| Numbers[Value] | Formatted Value | Format String |
|---|---|---|
| 103 | $103 | $#,0 |
| 10,345 | $10.35K | $#,0,.0#K |
| 103,456 | $103.46K | $#,0,.0#K |
| 1,034,567 | $1.03M | $#,0,,.0#M |
| 103,456,789 | $103.46M | $#,0,,.0#M |
| 134,897,891 | $134.9M | $#,0,,.0#M |
| 103,456,789,102 | $103.46B | $#,0,,,.0#B |
| 103,499,789,102 | $103.5B | $#,0,,,.0#B |
| 1,034,567,891,023 | $1.03T | $#,0,,,,.0#T |
Related articles
Learn more about FORMAT in the following articles:
-
Creating a simple date table in DAX
This article shows how to build a basic date table using a calculated table and DAX. » Read more
-
Rounding errors with different data types in DAX
This article describes the possible rounding differences that can appear in DAX. They are related to the data types and the operation being performed: knowing these details helps you write more robust DAX formulas and avoid errors in comparisons. » Read more
-
Improving data labels with format strings
This article describes the different approaches to format your DAX measures in Power BI semantic models using format custom and dynamic format strings. » Read more
Related functions
Other related functions are:
Last update: Jun 14, 2025 » Contribute » Show contributors
Contributors: Alberto Ferrari, Marco Russo, Daniel Otykier, Vahid Doustimajd,
Microsoft documentation: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dax/format-function-dax