diff --git a/x-pack/solutions/observability/plugins/streams_app/public/components/stream_detail_schema_editor/flyout/field_form_format.tsx b/x-pack/solutions/observability/plugins/streams_app/public/components/stream_detail_schema_editor/flyout/field_form_format.tsx
index 9b8ba2bdbe6db..9b69a68034170 100644
--- a/x-pack/solutions/observability/plugins/streams_app/public/components/stream_detail_schema_editor/flyout/field_form_format.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/solutions/observability/plugins/streams_app/public/components/stream_detail_schema_editor/flyout/field_form_format.tsx
@@ -5,9 +5,18 @@
  * 2.0.
  */
 
-import { EuiFieldText } from '@elastic/eui';
-import React from 'react';
+import {
+  EuiFieldText,
+  EuiFlexGroup,
+  EuiFlexItem,
+  EuiSelect,
+  EuiSwitch,
+  EuiSwitchEvent,
+} from '@elastic/eui';
+import React, { useCallback } from 'react';
+import { i18n } from '@kbn/i18n';
 import { FieldDefinitionConfig } from '@kbn/streams-schema';
+import useToggle from 'react-use/lib/useToggle';
 import { SchemaEditorEditingState } from '../hooks/use_editing_state';
 
 type FieldFormFormatProps = Pick<
@@ -15,25 +24,93 @@ type FieldFormFormatProps = Pick<
   'nextFieldType' | 'nextFieldFormat' | 'setNextFieldFormat'
 >;
 
+const DEFAULT_FORMAT = 'strict_date_optional_time||epoch_millis';
+
+const POPULAR_FORMATS = [
+  DEFAULT_FORMAT,
+  'strict_date_optional_time',
+  'date_optional_time',
+  'epoch_millis',
+  'basic_date_time',
+] as const;
+
+type PopularFormatOption = (typeof POPULAR_FORMATS)[number];
+
 export const typeSupportsFormat = (type?: FieldDefinitionConfig['type']) => {
   if (!type) return false;
   return ['date'].includes(type);
 };
 
-export const FieldFormFormat = ({
-  nextFieldType: fieldType,
-  nextFieldFormat: value,
-  setNextFieldFormat: onChange,
-}: FieldFormFormatProps) => {
-  if (!typeSupportsFormat(fieldType)) {
+export const FieldFormFormat = (props: FieldFormFormatProps) => {
+  if (!typeSupportsFormat(props.nextFieldType)) {
     return null;
   }
+  return <FieldFormFormatSelection {...props} />;
+};
+
+const FieldFormFormatSelection = (props: FieldFormFormatProps) => {
+  const [isFreeform, toggleIsFreeform] = useToggle(
+    props.nextFieldFormat !== undefined && !isPopularFormat(props.nextFieldFormat)
+  );
+
+  const onToggle = useCallback(
+    (e: EuiSwitchEvent) => {
+      if (!e.target.checked && !isPopularFormat(props.nextFieldFormat)) {
+        props.setNextFieldFormat(undefined);
+      }
+      toggleIsFreeform();
+    },
+    [props, toggleIsFreeform]
+  );
+
+  return (
+    <EuiFlexGroup direction="column">
+      <EuiFlexItem>
+        {isFreeform ? <FreeformFormatInput {...props} /> : <PopularFormatsSelector {...props} />}
+      </EuiFlexItem>
+      <EuiFlexItem>
+        <EuiSwitch
+          label={i18n.translate('xpack.streams.fieldFormFormatSelection.freeformToggleLabel', {
+            defaultMessage: 'Use freeform mode',
+          })}
+          checked={isFreeform}
+          onChange={onToggle}
+        />
+      </EuiFlexItem>
+    </EuiFlexGroup>
+  );
+};
+
+const PopularFormatsSelector = (props: FieldFormFormatProps) => {
+  return (
+    <EuiSelect
+      hasNoInitialSelection={
+        props.nextFieldFormat === undefined || !isPopularFormat(props.nextFieldFormat)
+      }
+      data-test-subj="streamsAppSchemaEditorFieldFormatPopularFormats"
+      onChange={(event) => {
+        props.setNextFieldFormat(event.target.value as PopularFormatOption);
+      }}
+      value={props.nextFieldFormat}
+      options={POPULAR_FORMATS.map((format) => ({
+        text: format,
+        value: format,
+      }))}
+    />
+  );
+};
+
+const FreeformFormatInput = (props: FieldFormFormatProps) => {
   return (
     <EuiFieldText
       data-test-subj="streamsAppFieldFormFormatField"
       placeholder="yyyy/MM/dd"
-      value={value ?? ''}
-      onChange={(e) => onChange(e.target.value)}
+      value={props.nextFieldFormat ?? ''}
+      onChange={(e) => props.setNextFieldFormat(e.target.value)}
     />
   );
 };
+
+const isPopularFormat = (value?: string): value is PopularFormatOption => {
+  return POPULAR_FORMATS.includes(value as PopularFormatOption);
+};