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 and timezone.

$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

2026-10-20  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 )

2026-10-20 01:40:20.887445

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