The datetime.timedelta() function in Python is used to represent a time difference. It allows you to add or subtract days, hours, minutes or seconds from a date or datetime object.
Example: This code gets the current date and time using datetime.now() and then uses timedelta(days=1) to calculate the date and time one day in the future.
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
t = datetime.now()
res = t + timedelta(days=1)
print(res)
Output
2026-01-09 09:58:19.083495
Explanation:
- datetime.now() gives the current date and time
- timedelta(days=1) adds 1 day to the current time
Syntax
datetime.timedelta(days=0, seconds=0, minutes=0, hours=0, weeks=0)
Parameters:
- days: number of days
- seconds: number of seconds
- minutes: number of minutes
- hours: number of hours
- weeks: number of weeks
Examples
Example 1: This example shows how to add days to the current date using timedelta().
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
d = datetime.now()
f = d + timedelta(days=5)
print(f)
Output
2026-01-13 10:02:23.079919
Explanation: timedelta(days=5) adds 5 days to d
Example 2: This example demonstrates how to go back in time by subtracting hours.
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
t = datetime.now()
p = t - timedelta(hours=2)
print(p)
Output
2026-01-08 08:03:36.816373
Explanation: timedelta(hours=2) subtracts 2 hours from t
Example 3: This example calculates the time difference between two datetime values.
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
d1 = datetime.now()
d2 = d1 + timedelta(days=3)
print(d2 - d1)
Output
3 days, 0:00:00
Explanation: d2 - d1 returns a timedelta showing the time gap