ZonedDateTime minusMonths() method in Java with Examples

Namachila November 7, 2025

0 1 1 minute read

minusMonths() method of a ZonedDateTime class used to subtracts the number of months in this ZonedDateTime and return a copy of ZonedDateTime after subtraction. This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Syntax:

public ZonedDateTime minusMonths(long months)

Parameters: This method accepts a single parameter months which represents the months to subtract, It can be negative.

Return value: This method returns a ZonedDateTime based on this date-time with the months subtract, not null.

Exception: This method throws DateTimeException if the result exceeds the supported date range.

Below programs illustrate the minusMonths() method:
Program 1:

// Java program to demonstrate
// ZonedDateTime.minusMonths() method
  
import java.time.*;
  
public class GFG {
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
  
        // create a ZonedDateTime object
        ZonedDateTime zoneddatetime
            = ZonedDateTime.parse(
                "2018-12-06T19:21:12.123+05:30[Asia/Calcutta]");
  
        // print instance
        System.out.println("ZonedDateTime before"
                           + " subtracting months: "
                           + zoneddatetime);
  
        // subtract 10 months
        ZonedDateTime returnvalue
            = zoneddatetime.minusMonths(10);
  
        // print result
        System.out.println("ZonedDateTime after "
                           + " subtracting 10 months: "
                           + returnvalue);
    }
}

Output:

ZonedDateTime before subtracting months: 2018-12-06T19:21:12.123+05:30[Asia/Calcutta]ZonedDateTime after subtracting 10 months: 2018-02-06T19:21:12.123+05:30[Asia/Calcutta]

Program 2:

// Java program to demonstrate
// ZonedDateTime.minusMonths() method
  
import java.time.*;
  
public class GFG {
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
  
        // create a ZonedDateTime object
        ZonedDateTime zoneddatetime
            = ZonedDateTime.parse(
                "2018-10-25T23:12:31.123+02:00[Europe/Paris]");
  
        // print instance
        System.out.println("ZonedDateTime before"
                           + " subtracting months: "
                           + zoneddatetime);
  
        // subtract 2 months
        ZonedDateTime returnvalue
            = zoneddatetime.minusMonths(2);
  
        // print result
        System.out.println("ZonedDateTime after "
                           + " subtracting 2 months: "
                           + returnvalue);
    }
}

Output:

ZonedDateTime before subtracting months: 2018-10-25T23:12:31.123+02:00[Europe/Paris]ZonedDateTime after subtracting 2 months: 2018-08-25T23:12:31.123+02:00[Europe/Paris]

Reference: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/10/docs/api/java/time/ZonedDateTime.html#minusMonths(long)