How to configure 'git log' to show 'commit date'

You can use --pretty=format and use %cr for commit date relative.

For example:

$ git log --graph --pretty=format:'%C(auto)%h%d (%cr) %cn <%ce> %s'

You can define an alias in git to make this easier to use. I have the following in my .gitconfig:

[alias]
# see `git help log` for detailed help.
#   %h: abbreviated commit hash
#   %d: ref names, like the --decorate option of git-log(1)
#   %cn: commiter name
#   %ce: committer email
#   %cr: committer date, relative
#   %ci: committer date, ISO 8601-like format
#   %an: author name
#   %ae: author email
#   %ar: author date, relative
#   %ai: author date, ISO 8601-like format
#   %s: subject
# my awesome git log replacement
lol  = log --graph --pretty=format:\"%C(auto)%h%d%Creset %C(cyan)(%cr)%Creset %C(green)%cn <%ce>%Creset %s\"
# same as above, but ISO date
lold = log --graph --pretty=format:\"%C(auto)%h%d%Creset %C(cyan)(%ci)%Creset %C(green)%cn <%ce>%Creset %s\"
# using build-in standards
lol2 = log --oneline --graph --decorate
# shows branches and their last commits
lol3 = log --all --graph --decorate --oneline --simplify-by-decoration

On Linux or similar systems, you can use single-quotes ' instead of double-quotes ":

[alias]
lol = log --graph --pretty=format:'%C(auto)%h%d%Creset %C(cyan)(%cr)%Creset %C(green)%cn <%ce>%Creset %s'

With this, simply run git lol, or the other variants to see the pretty output.

Here's the output of git lol --simplify-by-decoration:

• It looks good. :)
• lol is easier to type than log, and sounds better too.
  • Also gives you access to the regular git log if you ever need it.
• Your eyes can scan contents quickly by the different colors.
• Names and e-mails are very useful for large projects/org with many contributors.
• Using default coloring for hash/ref as it is already pretty good.

Here's the output of git lold with dates in ISO format. Useful to see the exact date/time a commit is made, with the bonus of being able to see the contributor's timezone easily.

Edit 2020-06: Added screenshots. Updated to use %C(auto) (auto/default coloring) for %h (commit hash) and %d (ref names). Added %cn (commiter name) in addition to email.

There are several options to pretty print the date. Probably the easiest is to just use one of the pre-baked --pretty formats, like git log --pretty=fuller - this will show both dates. If you want to see only one date, but make it the commit date, you can use git log --format=<some stuff>. All the allowable codes for defining the format are documented in git help log. The commit date is one of %cd, %cD, %cr, %ct or %ci, depending on what format you prefer it in.

If it's something you want to do often, put it in an alias or write an auxiliary script to save on typing.

I prefer this format, doesn't include author name and includes actual date for commit.

git log --graph --pretty=format:"%C(yellow)%h%x09%Creset%C(cyan)%C(bold)%ad%Creset  %C(green)%Creset %s" --date=short