Convert DataFrame column type from string to datetime, dd/mm/yyyy format

Question

How can I convert a DataFrame column of strings (in dd/mm/yyyy format) to datetimes?

Answer 1

The easiest way is to use to_datetime:

df['col'] = pd.to_datetime(df['col'])

It also offers a dayfirst argument for European times (but beware this isn't strict).

Here it is in action:

In [11]: pd.to_datetime(pd.Series(['05/23/2005']))
Out[11]:
0   2005-05-23 00:00:00
dtype: datetime64[ns]

You can pass a specific format:

In [12]: pd.to_datetime(pd.Series(['05/23/2005']), format="%m/%d/%Y")
Out[12]:
0   2005-05-23
dtype: datetime64[ns]