How To Subtract Years From Date In Java 8?

To subtract years from the date, you can use minusYears() method of the LocalDate class of Java 8.

This method returns a copy of the date after subtracting the specified years.

For example, if you subtract 20 years from the date "2022-03-14" then the result will be 2002-03-14.

You can use this method to minus years such as 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, etc.

Let's understand with the running examples.

/* 
 *  Code example to subtract years from date in Java
 */
import java.time.LocalDate;
public class JExercise {
	public static void main(String[] args) {		

		// String  date is given
		String strDate = "2022-03-14";
		// parse the date into date time
		LocalDate date = LocalDate.parse(strDate);		
		// Displaying time
		System.out.println("Date : "+date);

		// Minus year more than max
		date = date.minusYears(20);
		// Displaying time
		System.out.println("New date : "+date);

	}
}

Output:

Date : 2022-03-14
New date : 2002-03-14
 

Now, let's have a look at this method signature:

public LocalDate minusYears(long yearsToSubtract)

Package Name: java.time;

Class Name: LocalDate

Return Value: It returns a copy of localdate after subtracting the specified years, not null.

Parameters: It takes a single long type value. It may be negative.

Exceptions: It throws a DateTimeException if the result exceeds the supported(either MIN or MAX) date range.

Version: Since 1.8

Let's see more examples.

Subtract years from the current date in Java

To subtract years from the current date, we first used the now() method to get the current date and then used the minusYears() method. 

/* 
 *  Code example to subtract years from current date in Java
 */
import java.time.LocalDate;
public class JExercise {
	public static void main(String[] args) {		

		// Current date
		LocalDate date = LocalDate.now();	
		// Displaying time
		System.out.println("Date : "+date);

		// Minus year more than max
		date = date.minusYears(15);
		// Displaying time
		System.out.println("New date : "+date);

	}
}

Output:

Date : 2022-03-25
New date : 2007-03-25
 

Adding Years to the Current Date in Java

The minusYears() method accepts the negative value as an argument as well. This method performs the just opposite with the negative input.

It means it adds the years rather than subtracts the years. See the below Java code.

/* 
 *  Code example to add years from local date in Java
 */
import java.time.LocalDate;
public class JExercise {
	public static void main(String[] args) {		

		// Current date
		LocalDate date = LocalDate.now();	
		// Displaying time
		System.out.println("Date : "+date);

		// Minus year more than max
		date = date.minusYears(-15); // negative year
		// Displaying time
		System.out.println("New date : "+date);

	}
}

Output:

Date : 2022-03-25
New date : 2037-03-25
 

Single Line Solution - Final Shot

Use this code to get results in a single line of code. If you are a beginner, skip this code.

LocalDate.now().minusYears(5);

This code will return a localdate object after subtracting 5 years from the current date. You just replace the value with your input and get the result instantly.