Unparseable date ☕ Java

java.text.ParseException: Unparseable date: "x"

SimpleDateFormat couldn’t parse the string with its pattern.

Seen on: Java

Meaning

Legacy java.util.Date parsing. Pattern mismatches, locale differences and timezone suffixes are common. SimpleDateFormat is also not thread-safe.

Common causes

  • Pattern doesn’t match the input
  • Locale mismatch (month names)
  • Shared SimpleDateFormat across threads

⚡ Quick fix

  1. Fix the pattern
  2. Migrate to java.time (DateTimeFormatter is thread-safe)
  3. Specify Locale.ENGLISH for English month names

Detailed fix by platform

Java

  1. DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("EEE, dd MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss Z", Locale.ENGLISH)

How to diagnose

  1. Input — Exact string
  2. Pattern — Current pattern

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