Fixing Java DateTimeParseException with LocalDateTime

Omozegie AziegbeMay 9th, 2025Last Updated: May 8th, 2025

0 96 3 minutes read

When working with Java’s java.time package, we sometimes encounter the DateTimeParseException with the message:
“Unable to obtain LocalDateTime from TemporalAccessor”.
This error can be confusing, especially when the input string appears valid. This article will explore why this exception occurs and effective strategies to fix and prevent it.

1. Root Cause: Missing Time Component

The most common cause is attempting to parse a date-only string into a LocalDateTime, which requires both date and time components.

Example That Fails

import java.time.LocalDateTime;
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;

public class DateTimeExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String input = "2024-12-25";  // Only date, no time
        DateTimeFormatter formatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd");
        
        LocalDateTime dateTime = LocalDateTime.parse(input, formatter); // Exception
        System.out.println(dateTime);
        
    }
}

Output:

Exception in thread "main" java.time.format.DateTimeParseException: Text '2024-12-25' could not be parsed: Unable to obtain LocalDateTime from TemporalAccessor: {},ISO resolved to 2024-12-25 of type java.time.format.Parsed
	at java.base/java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter.createError(DateTimeFormatter.java:2079)
	at java.base/java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter.parse(DateTimeFormatter.java:2014)
	at java.base/java.time.LocalDateTime.parse(LocalDateTime.java:494)
	at com.jcg.examples.DateTimeExample.main(DateTimeExample.java:20)
Caused by: java.time.DateTimeException: Unable to obtain LocalDateTime from TemporalAccessor: {},ISO resolved to 2024-12-25 of type java.time.format.Parsed
	at java.base/java.time.LocalDateTime.from(LocalDateTime.java:463)
	at java.base/java.time.format.Parsed.query(Parsed.java:247)
	at java.base/java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter.parse(DateTimeFormatter.java:2010)
	... 2 more
Caused by: java.time.DateTimeException: Unable to obtain LocalTime from TemporalAccessor: {},ISO resolved to 2024-12-25 of type java.time.format.Parsed
	at java.base/java.time.LocalTime.from(LocalTime.java:441)
	at java.base/java.time.LocalDateTime.from(LocalDateTime.java:459)

What Does the Exception Mean?

This means that:

The input string was parsed, but
The parser could not extract enough information to create a LocalDateTime object.

Java uses the TemporalAccessor interface to represent partially parsed date-time information. If this information is insufficient to construct a specific date-time type like LocalDateTime, the exception is thrown.

2. Use `LocalDate` Instead

To resolve this, we should use LocalDate if our input string contains only a date and no time. LocalDate is specifically designed to handle date-only values.

public static void main(String[] args) {
        String input = "2024-12-25";
        DateTimeFormatter formatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd");

        LocalDate date = LocalDate.parse(input, formatter);  // Correct
        System.out.println(date); // 2024-12-25
    }

In this example:

The input string "2024-12-25" contains only the date, without any time component.
A DateTimeFormatter is used to match the pattern of the input string ("yyyy-MM-dd").
Instead of using LocalDateTime, we correctly parse it into a LocalDate, which succeeds without errors.

By using LocalDate, the code avoids the need to obtain a time component from the parsed result, which is precisely what causes the exception when trying to parse into LocalDateTime.

3. Use `LocalDate.parse()` with a Built-in Formatter

When parsing a date-only string, it is often helpful to utilize the built-in ISO_LOCAL_DATE formatter, which simplifies the parsing process. This formatter is designed for strings that follow the ISO-8601 standard (yyyy-MM-dd). Using this formatter avoids the need to manually define a custom pattern and ensures that the date is parsed correctly into a LocalDate.

        String input = "2024-12-25";
        LocalDate date = LocalDate.parse(input, DateTimeFormatter.ISO_LOCAL_DATE);  // Correct
        System.out.println(date); // 2024-12-25

Here, we use LocalDate.parse() with DateTimeFormatter.ISO_LOCAL_DATE, which is the standard ISO-8601 date format (yyyy-MM-dd).

Alternatively, if we require a LocalDateTime instead of just a LocalDate, and the input string includes both date and time components in ISO-8601 format (yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss), we can use LocalDateTime.parse() along with the built-in DateTimeFormatter.ISO_LOCAL_DATE_TIME.

        String input = "2024-12-25T14:30:00";
        LocalDateTime dateTime = LocalDateTime.parse(input, DateTimeFormatter.ISO_LOCAL_DATE_TIME);
        System.out.println(dateTime); // 2024-12-25T14:30

Here, we use LocalDateTime.parse() with the built-in DateTimeFormatter.ISO_LOCAL_DATE_TIME, which correctly interprets the format. This results in a properly parsed LocalDateTime object that contains both the date and time.

4. Append Default Time If Missing

4.1 Use `LocalDate.parse(...).atStartOfDay()`

Another practical solution is to first parse the string into a LocalDate and then convert it to a LocalDateTime using the .atStartOfDay() method. This method sets the time to midnight (00:00) on the given date, effectively creating a valid LocalDateTime without throwing a DateTimeParseException.

        String input = "2024-12-25";
        DateTimeFormatter formatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd");

        LocalDateTime dateTime = LocalDate.parse(input, formatter).atStartOfDay();
        System.out.println(dateTime); // 2024-12-25T00:00

This example code parses the input into a LocalDate using LocalDate.parse(…), which succeeds, and then converts it into a LocalDateTime with a time of 00:00 by calling .atStartOfDay().

4.2 Appending Time Manually

If the input string sometimes lacks the time, we can handle it by appending a default time before parsing.

       String dateOnlyInput = "2024-12-25";
        String fullInput = dateOnlyInput + " 00:00"; // default to midnight
        DateTimeFormatter formatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm");

        LocalDateTime dateTime = LocalDateTime.parse(fullInput, formatter); // Works
        System.out.println(dateTime); // 2024-12-25T00:00

Appending a default time ensures that the string matches the expected format for LocalDateTime. This is useful in systems where time might be optional.

5. Final Tips to Prevent the Exception

Use .atStartOfDay() when converting from LocalDate to LocalDateTime.
Always match the formatter to the input format.
Use the correct date-time type: LocalDate, LocalTime, LocalDateTime, or ZonedDateTime.
Use DateTimeFormatter.ISO_LOCAL_DATE, ISO_LOCAL_DATE_TIME, etc. when possible. They are robust and well-tested.

6. Conclusion

In this article, we explored the causes and solutions for the DateTimeParseException: Unable to obtain LocalDateTime from TemporalAccessor in Java. This exception typically arises when attempting to parse a date-only string into a LocalDateTime, which expects both date and time components. We demonstrated how to correctly handle such scenarios by using LocalDate for date-only strings, converting to LocalDateTime with .atStartOfDay() when needed, and leveraging built-in formatters like DateTimeFormatter.ISO_LOCAL_DATE and ISO_LOCAL_DATE_TIME for ISO-standard inputs.