setTime to set hour minutes and seconds of any date object in PHP

Set the time with setTime()

setTime() sets hour, minute, second and optionally microseconds while preserving the date.

$date = new DateTimeImmutable('2026-09-14');
$changed = $date->setTime(14, 30, 15);
echo $changed->format('Y-m-d H:i:s');

Hours and minutes are interpreted in the object's timezone.

By using a date object we can set time to any value by using setTime property this format

setTime( Hour, minutes, seconds )

All above inputs are in integer.
Here are some examples.

date_default_timezone_set('America/Chicago');
$date = new DateTime('2012-04-15 22:15:40');
echo $date->format('Y/m/d H:i:s') . "<br>";
$date->setTime(23,30);
echo $date->format('Y/m/d H:i:s') . "<br>";

The output is here

2012/04/15 22:15:40
2012/04/15 23:30:00

We can change the setTime to different values and output will change like this .

$date->setTime(2,50,32);

output is here

2012/04/15 22:15:40
2012/04/15 02:50:32

Procedural style

$date = date_create('2020-08-16');
date_time_set($date, 24, 56,58);
echo date_format($date, 'Y-m-d H:i:s');

2020-08-17 00:56:58

In the above code check how the hour has changed the day by adding one.

Using today's date

$date = new DateTime();
$date->setTime(14,30,45, 500000); //2:30:45 PM and 500000 microseconds
echo $date->format('Y-m-d  H:i:s.u'); // Output: 14:30:45.500000

Output

2026-09-29  14:30:45.500000

Using Today's date and current time

$date = new DateTime(); // Current date and time
$currentHour = (int) $date->format('H');
$currentMinute = (int) $date->format('i');
$currentSecond = (int) $date->format('s');
$currentMicrosecond = (int) $date->format('u');

$date->setTime($currentHour, $currentMinute, $currentSecond, $currentMicrosecond);
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:s.u'); // Output includes current date with precise time

Output ( refresh this page to see the changes )

2026-09-29 21:49:56.744163

PHP Date Functions setDate() : Set date for date object Timestamp in PHP Displaying calendar for selection of date by user

Subhendu Mohapatra

Author & Instructor at plus2net

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setTime() : sets the time in a DateTime object by specifying hours, minutes, and optionally seconds and microseconds

Set the time with setTime()

Procedural style

Using today's date

Using Today's date and current time

Subhendu Mohapatra