# Datetime column validation

**URL:** <https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/t/datetime-column-validation/2396>\
**Category:** GX Core Support\
**Tags:** help-wanted\
**Created:** [September 24, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/t/datetime-column-validation/2396 "2026-09-24T21:54:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![KK1259](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71c47a/32.png) [@KK1259](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/u/KK1259)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/t/datetime-column-validation/2396/1 "2026-09-24T21:54:12Z")

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Hi, I have a column = created\_date which has datetime in this format = ‘2/09/2026 11:49’. Now this column is type = object. How to validate this without converting to datetime type.

I found a legacy expectation = \< **expect\_column\_values\_to\_match\_strftime\_format** \>, can I still use it in v1.23.1 ?

If not, then is there any specific expectation in the current gallery ?

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**Author:** ![joshstauffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@joshstauffer](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/u/joshstauffer)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2026, 8:09am UTC](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/t/datetime-column-validation/2396/2 "2026-09-25T08:09:22Z")

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Hi @KK1259, `ExpectColumnValuesToMatchStrftimeFormat` is the correct Expectation for your use case. It’s fully supported, and ships with v1.23.1. I see that it’s missing from the Expectation Gallery, though - I’ll get that updated sometime in the next few weeks.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KK1259](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71c47a/32.png) [@KK1259](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/u/KK1259)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2026, 7:25pm UTC](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/t/datetime-column-validation/2396/3 "2026-09-27T19:25:20Z")

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Thank you @joshstauffer