MySQL - compare datetime values

In this article, we would like to show you how to compare datetime values in MySQL.

Quick solution:

SELECT *
FROM `table_name`
WHERE `datetime_column_name` <= 'yyyy-mm-dd';

Notes:

1. you can replace the <= operator with any other comparison operator,
2. to see how to use BETWEEN keyword with dates check this article.

Practical example

To show how to compare datetime values, we will use the following table:

Note:

At the end of this article you can find database preparation SQL queries.

Example 1

In this example, we will display all the datetimes before 2000-01-04.

Query:

SELECT *  
FROM `dates` 
WHERE `date` < '2000-01-04';

Output:

Example 2

In this example, we will select all the datetimes from 2000-01-04 inclusive and display them without time using DATE() function (yyyy-mm-dd format only).

Query:

SELECT DATE(`date`)
FROM `dates`
WHERE `date` <= '2000-01-04';

Output:

Database preparation

create_tables.sql file:

create TABLE `dates`(
	`id` INT(10) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
	`date` DATETIME,
	PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
);

insert_data.sql file:

insert into `dates`
	(`date`) 
VALUES 
	('2000-01-01'),
	('2000-01-02'),
	('2000-01-03'),
	('2000-01-04'),
	('2000-01-05'),
	('2000-01-06');