How to Get Day of Week in Python: Simple Examples

Use the datetime module in Python to get the day of the week. You can call datetime.datetime.today().weekday() to get the day as a number (0=Monday), or use strftime('%A') to get the full day name as a string.

Syntax

To get the day of the week in Python, use the datetime module. The main methods are:

• datetime.datetime.today().weekday(): returns an integer from 0 (Monday) to 6 (Sunday).
• datetime.datetime.today().strftime('%A'): returns the full weekday name as a string, like 'Monday'.

python

import datetime

# Get weekday as number (0=Monday, 6=Sunday)
weekday_number = datetime.datetime.today().weekday()

# Get weekday as full name string
weekday_name = datetime.datetime.today().strftime('%A')

Example

This example shows how to print both the weekday number and the weekday name for today's date.

python

import datetime

# Get today's date
today = datetime.datetime.today()

# Get weekday number (0=Monday)
weekday_num = today.weekday()

# Get weekday name
weekday_str = today.strftime('%A')

print(f"Weekday number: {weekday_num}")
print(f"Weekday name: {weekday_str}")

Output

Weekday number: 3
Weekday name: Thursday

Common Pitfalls

One common mistake is confusing weekday() and isoweekday(). weekday() counts Monday as 0, Sunday as 6, while isoweekday() counts Monday as 1, Sunday as 7.

Also, using strftime('%w') returns Sunday as 0, which can be confusing.

python

import datetime

today = datetime.datetime.today()

# Wrong: assuming Sunday is 7 with weekday()
wrong_day = today.weekday()  # Sunday is 6 here

# Right: use isoweekday() if you want Monday=1, Sunday=7
right_day = today.isoweekday()

print(f"weekday() gives: {wrong_day}")
print(f"isoweekday() gives: {right_day}")

Output

weekday() gives: 3
isoweekday() gives: 4

Quick Reference

Method	Returns	Value Range	Notes
datetime.datetime.today().weekday()	Weekday number	0 (Monday) to 6 (Sunday)	Commonly used, zero-based index
datetime.datetime.today().isoweekday()	Weekday number	1 (Monday) to 7 (Sunday)	ISO standard numbering
datetime.datetime.today().strftime('%A')	Weekday name	String like 'Monday'	Full weekday name
datetime.datetime.today().strftime('%a')	Weekday abbreviation	String like 'Mon'	Short weekday name

Key Takeaways

Use datetime.today().weekday() to get the day of week as a number from 0 (Monday) to 6 (Sunday).

Use datetime.today().strftime('%A') to get the full weekday name as a string.

Remember weekday() starts counting at 0 for Monday, while isoweekday() starts at 1 for Monday.

Avoid confusion by choosing the method that fits your numbering preference.

strftime() formatting codes like '%A' and '%a' help get readable day names.