# xarray.CFTimeIndex.strftime

#### CFTimeIndex.strftime(date_format)[[source]](https://github.com/pydata/xarray/blob/main/xarray/coding/cftimeindex.py#L681-L713)

Return an Index of formatted strings specified by date_format.

The format supports the same string format as the python standard library.
Details of the string format can be found in [python string format doc](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-strptime-behavior).

* **Parameters:**
  **date_format** ([`str`](https://docs.python.org/3/builtins/stdtypes.html#str)) – Date format string (e.g. “%Y-%m-%d”)
* **Returns:**
  [`pandas.Index`](https://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/reference/api/pandas.Index.html#pandas.Index) – Index of formatted strings

### Examples

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```pycon
>>> rng = xr.date_range(
...     start="2000",
...     periods=5,
...     freq="2MS",
...     calendar="noleap",
...     use_cftime=True,
... )
>>> rng.strftime("%B %d, %Y, %r")
Index(['January 01, 2000, 12:00:00 AM', 'March 01, 2000, 12:00:00 AM',
       'May 01, 2000, 12:00:00 AM', 'July 01, 2000, 12:00:00 AM',
       'September 01, 2000, 12:00:00 AM'],
      dtype='str')
```

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