The result is a Number, which is a unix timestamp representing the date and time in {timestring}, which is expected to match the format specified in {format}. The accepted {format} depends on your system, thus this is not portable! See the manual page of the C function strptime() for the format. Especially avoid "%c". The value of $TZ also matters. If the {timestring} cannot be parsed with {format} zero is returned. If you do not know the format of {timestring} you can try different {format} values until you get a non-zero result. See also |strftime()|. Examples: :echo strptime("%Y %b %d %X", "1997 Apr 27 11:49:23") 862156163 :echo strftime("%c", strptime("%y%m%d %T", "970427 11:53:55")) Sun Apr 27 11:53:55 1997 :echo strftime("%c", strptime("%Y%m%d%H%M%S", "19970427115355") + 3600) Sun Apr 27 12:53:55 1997 Not available on all systems. To check use: :if exists("*strptime")