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

You can use the following if you want to specify tricky formats:

df['date_col'] =  pd.to_datetime(df['date_col'], format='%d/%m/%Y')

More details on format here:

• Python 2 https://docs.python.org/2/library/datetime.html#strftime-strptime-behavior
• Python 3 https://docs.python.org/3.7/library/datetime.html#strftime-strptime-behavior