ORA-01861: literal does not match format string

I got ” ORA-01861: literal does not match format string ”  error in Oracle database.

ORA-01861: literal does not match format string

Details of error are as follows.

ORA-01861: literal does not match format string

Cause: Literals in the input must be the same length as literals in the format string
 (with the exception of leading whitespace). If the "FX" modifier has been toggled on, 
the literal must match exactly, with no extra whitespace.

Action: Correct the format string to match the literal.

SELECT TO_DATE('20210505','dd/mm/yyyy') FROM dual;

ORA-01861: literal does not match format string

literal does not match format string

This ORA-29280 error is related with the Literals in the input must be the same length as literals in the format string
(with the exception of leading whitespace). If the “FX” modifier has been toggled on, the literal must match exactly, with no extra whitespace.

Correct the format string to match the literal.

For example; When you run the following sql statement, you will get this error.

SELECT TO_DATE('20210505','ddmmyyyy') FROM dual;

ORA-01861: literal does not match format string

You should correct the SQL statement according to Day/Month/Year order as follows:

SELECT TO_DATE(‘05052021‘,’ddmmyyyy’) FROM dual;

Or When you run the following sql statement, you will get this error.

SELECT TO_DATE('05052021','dd/mm/yyyy') FROM dual;

ORA-01861: literal does not match format string

You should fix it as follows.

SELECT TO_DATE('05/05/2021','dd/mm/yyyy') FROM dual;

You need to provide the correct literal when you use TO_DATE function, TO_TIMESTAMP function, TO_CHAR function, and similar functions.

Do you want to learn Oracle Database for Beginners, then read the following articles.

Oracle Tutorial | Oracle Database Tutorials for Beginners ( Junior Oracle DBA )