MySQL DATE_SUB() Function

In MySQL, the DATE_SUB() function subtracts a date or time interval from the specified date or datetime and returns the result.

`DATE_SUB()` Syntax

Here is the syntax of MySQL DATE_SUB() function:

DATE_SUB(date, INTERVAL value unit)

Parameters

date: Required. A data or datetime value or expression.
value: Required. A date/time interval. Both positive and negative numbers are allowed.
unit: Required. The unit of the date/time interval.

The unit of the data/time interval can be one of the following values:

MICROSECOND
SECOND
MINUTE
HOUR
DAY
WEEK
MONTH
QUARTER
YEAR
SECOND_MICROSECOND
MINUTE_MICROSECOND
MINUTE_SECOND
HOUR_MICROSECOND
HOUR_SECOND
HOUR_MINUTE
DAY_MICROSECOND
DAY_SECOND
DAY_MINUTE
DAY_HOUR
YEAR_MONTH

Return value

The DATE_SUB() function subtracts a date or time interval from the specified date or datetime value and returns the result. The result’s date type is determined by the parameters:

If date is a DATE value and unit is YEAR, MONTH or DAY, it returns a DATE value.
If date is a DATE value and unit is HOURS, MINUTES or SECONDS, it returns a DATETIME value.
If date is a DATETIME value, it returns a DATETIME value.
If date is a TIME value and unit is YEAR, MONTH or DAY, it returns a DATETIME value.
If date is a TIME value and the computation involves only the HOURS, MINUTES and SECONDS parts , it returns a TIME value. (MySQL 8.0.28 and later)
Otherwise it returns a string value.

`DATE_SUB()` Examples

Here are some examples of the DATE_SUB() function.

Example 1

SELECT
    DATE_SUB('2020-06-10', 10),
    DATE_SUB('2020-06-10', -10)\G

 DATE_SUB('2020-06-10', 10): 2020-05-31
DATE_SUB('2020-06-10', -10): 2020-06-20

Example 2

SELECT
    DATE_SUB('2020-06-10', INTERVAL 10 DAY),
    DATE_SUB('2020-06-10', INTERVAL 10 HOUR)\G

 DATE_SUB('2020-06-10', INTERVAL 10 DAY): 2020-05-31
DATE_SUB('2020-06-10', INTERVAL 10 HOUR): 2020-06-09 14:00:00

Example 3

SELECT
    DATE_SUB('2020-06-10 10:00:00', INTERVAL 10 HOUR),
    DATE_SUB('2020-06-10 10:00:00', INTERVAL 10 MINUTE)\G

  DATE_SUB('2020-06-10 10:00:00', INTERVAL 10 HOUR): 2020-06-10 00:00:00
DATE_SUB('2020-06-10 10:00:00', INTERVAL 10 MINUTE): 2020-06-10 09:50:00

Example 4

SELECT
    DATE_SUB(CURDATE(), INTERVAL 10 HOUR),
    DATE_SUB(NOW(), INTERVAL 10 MINUTE)\G

DATE_SUB(CURDATE(), INTERVAL 10 HOUR): 2022-04-10 14:00:00
  DATE_SUB(NOW(), INTERVAL 10 MINUTE): 2022-04-11 08:56:43

Here, we used the CURDATE() function to get the current date and used the NOW() function to get the current datetime.

DATE_SUB() Syntax