Convert DateTime.Now to a valid Windows filename

c# windows filenames
Bali C picture Bali C · Oct 24, 2011 · Viewed 31.2k times · Source

I have had this issue quite a few times and have just been using a workaround but thought I would ask here in case there is an easier option. When I have a string from DateTime.Now and I then want to use this in a filename I can't because Windows doesn't allow the characters / and : in filenames, I have to go and replace them like this:

string filename = DateTime.Now.ToString().Replace('/', '_').Replace(':', '_');

Which seems a bit of a hassle, is there an easier way to do this? Any suggestions much appreciated.

Answer

Royi Namir picture Royi Namir · Oct 24, 2011 
 DateTime.Now.ToString("dd_MM_yyyy")

Related questions

How to make a valid Windows filename from an arbitrary string?

I've got a string like "Foo: Bar" that I want to use as a filename, but on Windows the ":" char isn't allowed in a filename. Is there a method that will turn "Foo: Bar" into something like "Foo- Bar"?

Read More
C#: Using Directory.GetFiles to get files with fixed length

The directory 'C:\temp' has two files named 'GZ96A7005.tif' and 'GZ96A7005001.tif'. They have different length with the same extension. Now I run below code: string[] resultFileNames = Directory.GetFiles(@"C:\temp", "????????????.tif"); The 'resultFileNames' return two items …

Read More
How to delete a file after checking whether it exists

How can I delete a file in C# e.g. C:\test.txt, although apply the same kind of method like in batch files e.g. if exist "C:\test.txt" delete "C:\test.txt" else return nothing (ignore)

Read More