diff --git a/docs/formatting.md b/docs/formatting.md
index 9b8372d7..00fc9dfb 100644
--- a/docs/formatting.md
+++ b/docs/formatting.md
@@ -160,10 +160,16 @@ Format specifiers can be used for advanced formatting by using the options provi
     <td><code>{foo:Ro/()/}</code></td>
     <td><code>F()()&nbsp;Bar</code></td>
 </tr>
+<tr>
+    <td><code>D&lt;format&gt;/</code></td>
+    <td>Parse a string value to a <code>datetime</code> object according to <a href="https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes"><code>&lt;format&gt;</code></a></td>
+    <td><code>{updated:D%b %d %Y %I:%M %p/}</code></td>
+    <td><code>2010-01-01 00:00:00</code></td>
+</tr>
 </tbody>
 </table>
 
-All special format specifiers (`?`, `L`, `J`, `R`) can be chained and combined with one another, but must always come before any standard format specifiers:
+All special format specifiers (`?`, `L`, `J`, `R`, `D`) can be chained and combined with one another, but must always come before any standard format specifiers:
 
 For example `{foo:?//RF/B/Ro/e/> 10}` -> `   Bee Bar`
 - `?//` - Tests if `foo` has a value
diff --git a/gallery_dl/formatter.py b/gallery_dl/formatter.py
index f5d961ac..c2b4d99e 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/formatter.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/formatter.py
@@ -274,6 +274,8 @@ def build_format_func(format_spec):
             return _parse_join(format_spec)
         if fmt == "R":
             return _parse_replace(format_spec)
+        if fmt == "D":
+            return _parse_datetime(format_spec)
         return _default_format(format_spec)
     return format
 
@@ -319,6 +321,16 @@ def _parse_replace(format_spec):
     return replace
 
 
+def _parse_datetime(format_spec):
+    dt_format, _, format_spec = format_spec.partition("/")
+    dt_format = dt_format[1:]
+    fmt = build_format_func(format_spec)
+
+    def dt(obj):
+        return fmt(text.parse_datetime(obj, dt_format))
+    return dt
+
+
 def _default_format(format_spec):
     def wrap(obj):
         return format(obj, format_spec)
diff --git a/test/test_formatter.py b/test/test_formatter.py
index 088b45ba..8464b1b6 100644
--- a/test/test_formatter.py
+++ b/test/test_formatter.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ class TestFormatter(unittest.TestCase):
         "u": "&#x27;&lt; / &gt;&#x27;",
         "t": 1262304000,
         "dt": datetime.datetime(2010, 1, 1),
+        "ds": "2010-01-01T01:00:00+0100",
         "name": "Name",
         "title1": "Title",
         "title2": "",
@@ -162,6 +163,11 @@ class TestFormatter(unittest.TestCase):
         self._run_test("{a!l:Rl//}" , "heo word")
         self._run_test("{name:Rame/othing/}", "Nothing")
 
+    def test_datetime(self):
+        self._run_test("{ds:D%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z}", "2010-01-01 00:00:00")
+        self._run_test("{ds:D%Y}", "2010-01-01T01:00:00+0100")
+        self._run_test("{l:D%Y}", "None")
+
     def test_chain_special(self):
         # multiple replacements
         self._run_test("{a:Rh/C/RE/e/RL/l/}", "Cello wOrld")
@@ -174,6 +180,9 @@ class TestFormatter(unittest.TestCase):
         self._run_test("{d[a]:?</>/L1/too long/}", "<too long>")
         self._run_test("{d[c]:?</>/L5/too long/}", "")
 
+        # parse and format datetime
+        self._run_test("{ds:D%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z/%Y%m%d}", "20100101")
+
     def test_globals_env(self):
         os.environ["FORMATTER_TEST"] = value = self.kwdict["a"]
 
@@ -259,7 +268,7 @@ def noarg():
                 sys.path.pop(0)
 
         self.assertEqual(fmt1.format_map(self.kwdict), "'Title' by Name")
-        self.assertEqual(fmt2.format_map(self.kwdict), "65")
+        self.assertEqual(fmt2.format_map(self.kwdict), "89")
 
         with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
             self.assertEqual(fmt3.format_map(self.kwdict), "")