How to get the date 7 days earlier date from current date in Java

Question

I am using

DateFormat dateFormat = 
new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss'Z'");
Date date = new Date();
String fromdate = dateFormat.format(date);

to get the current date, how can I get the date 7 days back. For example, if today is 7th June 2013, how can I get 31th May 2013 in the same format as defined in date formatter?

Update

Got the solution:

DateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss'Z'");

        Date date = new Date();
        String todate = dateFormat.format(date);

        Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
        cal.add(Calendar.DATE, -7);
        Date todate1 = cal.getTime();    
        String fromdate = dateFormat.format(todate1);

just think of it as rolling a calendar that you would generally do on your wrist watch http://www.tutorialspoint.com/java/util/calendar_roll.htm — Prateek, Jun 07 '13 at 10:36

score 59 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 20 '19 at 13:08

59

You can use Calendar class :

Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
cal.add(Calendar.DATE, -7);
System.out.println("Date = "+ cal.getTime());

But as @Sean Patrick Floyd mentioned , Joda-time is the best Java library for Date.

edited Mar 20 '19 at 13:08

Shravan40

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answered Jun 07 '13 at 10:36

AllTooSir

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Can't edit it cause it's only one character, but it is missing a semicolon at the end of the first line or it won't compile. – Drubio Feb 28 '18 at 09:08

score 22 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 20 '16 at 02:20

22

Or use JodaTime:

DateTime lastWeek = new DateTime().minusDays(7);

edited Feb 20 '16 at 02:20

Adi B

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answered Jun 07 '13 at 10:36

Sean Patrick Floyd

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new Date(System.currentTimeMillis() - TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.convert(7, TimeUnit.DAYS)); – slott Sep 15 '16 at 08:40

WyllianNeo · Answer 3 · 2014-09-24T13:02:46.183

12

You can use this to continue using the type Date and a more legible code, if you preffer:

import org.apache.commons.lang.time.DateUtils;
...
Date yourDate = DateUtils.addDays(new Date(), *days here*);

edited Sep 24 '14 at 13:02

answered Jan 15 '14 at 13:04

WyllianNeo

311
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13

score 10 · Answer 4 · edited May 19 '17 at 19:48

10

Use the Calendar-API:

// get Calendar instance
Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
cal.setTime(new Date());

// substract 7 days
// If we give 7 there it will give 8 days back
cal.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, cal.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH)-6);

// convert to date
Date myDate = cal.getTime();

Hope this helps. Have Fun!

edited May 19 '17 at 19:48

Matt S.

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answered Jun 07 '13 at 10:40

SimonSez

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score 10 · Answer 5 · answered May 09 '14 at 18:52

Java now has a pretty good built-in date library, java.time bundled with Java 8.

import java.time.LocalDateTime;
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;

public class Foo {
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        DateTimeFormatter format =
            DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss'Z'");

        LocalDateTime now = LocalDateTime.now();
        LocalDateTime then = now.minusDays(7);

        System.out.println(String.format(
            "Now:  %s\nThen: %s",
            now.format(format),
            then.format(format)
        ));
        /*
            Example output:
                Now:  2014-05-09T14:51:48Z
                Then: 2014-05-02T14:51:48Z
         */
    }
}

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 07 '13 at 10:38

1

For all date related functionality, you should consider using Joda Library. Java's date api's are very poorly designed. Joda provides very nice API.

answered Jun 07 '13 at 10:38

vineet

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How to get the date 7 days earlier date from current date in Java

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