by This is the final part of our Excel Date Tutorial that offers an overview of all Excel date functions, explains their basic uses and provides lots of formula examples.
Microsoft Excel provides a ton of functions to work with dates and times. Each function performs a simple operation and by combining several functions within one formula you can solve more complex and challenging tasks.
In the previous 12 parts of our Excel dates tutorial, we have studied the main Excel date functions in detail. In this final part, we are going to summarize the gained knowledge and provide links to a variety the formula examples to help you find the function best suited for calculating your dates.
The main function to calculate dates in Excel:
Get current date and time:
Convert dates to / from text:
Retrieve dates in Excel:
Calculate date difference:
Calculate workdays:
Excel DATE function
DATE(year, month, day) returns a serial number of a date based on the year, month and day values that you specify.
When it comes to working with dates in Excel, DATE is the most essential function to understand. The point is that other Excel date functions not always can recognize dates entered in the text format. So, when performing date calculations in Excel, you'd better supply dates using the DATE function to ensure the correct results.
Here are a few Excel DATE formula examples:
=DATE(2015, 5, 20) - returns a serial number corresponding to 20-May-2015.
=DATE(YEAR(TODAY()), MONTH(TODAY()), 1) - returns the first day of the current year and month.
=DATE(2015, 5, 20)-5 - subtracts 5 days from May 20, 2015.
At first sight, the Excel DATE function looks very simple, however, it does have a number of specificities pointed out in the Excel DATE tutorial.
Below you will find a few more examples where the Excel DATE function is part of bigger formulas:
Excel TODAY function
The TODAY() function returns today's date, exactly as its name suggests.
TODAY is arguably one of the easiest Excel functions to use because it has no arguments at all. Whenever you need to get today's date in Excel, enter the following formula is a cell:
=TODAY()
Apart from this obvious use, the Excel TODAY function can be part of more complex formulas and calculations based on today's date. For example, to add 7 days to the current date, enter the following formula in a cell:
=TODAY()+7
To add 30 weekdays to today's date excluding weekend days, use this one:
=WORKDAY(TODAY(), 30)
Note. The date returned by the TODAY function in Excel updates automatically when your worksheet is recalculated to reflect the current date.
For more formula examples demonstrating the use of the TODAY function in Excel, please check out the following tutorials:
Excel NOW function
NOW() function returns the current date and time. As well as TODAY, it does not have any arguments. If you wish to display today's date and current time in your worksheet, simply put the following formula in a cell:
=NOW()
Note. As well as TODAY, Excel NOW is a volatile function that refreshes the returned value every time the worksheet is recalculated. Please note, the cell with the NOW() formula does not auto update in real-time, only when the workbook is reopened or the worksheet is recalculated. To force the spreadsheet to recalculate, and consequently get your NOW formula to update its value, press either Shift+F9 to recalculate only the active worksheet or F9 to recalculate all open workbooks.
For more details, please see How to use NOW function in Excel.
Excel DATEVALUE function
DATEVALUE(date_text) converts a date in the text format to a serial number that represents a date.
The DATEVALUE function understands plenty of date formats as well as references to cells that contain "text dates". DATEVALUE comes in really handy to calculate, filter or sort dates stored as text and convert such "text dates" to the Date format.
A few simple DATEVALUE formula examples follow below:
=DATEVALUE("20-may-2015")
=DATEVALUE("5/20/2015")
=DATEVALUE("may 20, 2015")
And the following examples demonstrate how the DATEVALUE function can help with solving real-life tasks:
Excel TEXT function
In the pure sense, the TEXT function cannot be classified as one of Excel date functions because it can convert any numeric value, not only dates, to a text string.
With the TEXT(value, format_text) function, you can change the dates to text strings in a variety of formats, as demonstrated in the following screenshot.
Note. Though the values returned by the TEXT function may look like usual Excel dates, they are text values in nature and therefore cannot be used in other formulas and calculations.
Here are a few more TEXT formula examples that you may find helpful:
Excel DAY function
DAY(serial_number) function returns a day of the month as an integer from 1 to 31.
Serial_number is the date corresponding to the day you are trying to get. It can be a cell reference, a date entered by using the DATE function, or returned by other formulas.
Here are a few formula examples:
=DAY(A2) - returns the day of the month from a date in A2
=DAY(DATE(2015,1,1)) - returns the day of 1-Jan-2015
=DAY(TODAY()) - returns the day of today's date
Excel MONTH function
MONTH(serial_number) function in Excel returns the month of a specified date as an integer ranging from 1 (January) to 12 (December).
For example:
=MONTH(A2) - returns the month of a date in cell A2.
=MONTH(TODAY()) - returns the current month.
The MONTH function is rarely used in Excel date formulas on its own. Most often you would utilize it in conjunction with other functions as demonstrated in the following examples:
For the detail explanation of the MONTH function's syntax and plenty more formula examples, please check out the following tutorial: Using the MONTH function in Excel.
Excel YEAR function
YEAR(serial_number) returns a year corresponding to a given date, as a number from 1900 to 9999.
The Excel YEAR function is very straightforward and you will hardly run into any difficulties when using it in your date calculations:
=YEAR(A2) - returns the year of a date in cell A2.
=YEAR("20-May-2015") - returns the year of the specified date.
=YEAR(DATE(2015,5,20)) - a more reliable method to get the year of a given date.
=YEAR(TODAY()) - returns the current year.
For more information about the YEAR function, please see:
Excel EOMONTH function
EOMONTH(start_date, months) function returns the last day of the month a given number of months from the start date.
Like most of Excel date functions, EOMONTH can operate on dates input as cell references, entered by using the DATE function, or results of other formulas.
A positive value in the months argument adds the corresponding number of months to the start date, for example:
=EOMONTH(A2, 3) - returns the last day of the month, 3 months after the date in cell A2.
A negative value in the months argument subtracts the corresponding number of months from the start date:
=EOMONTH(A2, -3) - returns the last day of the month, 3 months before the date in cell A2.
A zero in the months argument forces the EOMONTH function to return the last day of the start date's month:
=EOMONTH(DATE(2015,4,15), 0) - returns the last day in April, 2015.
To get the last day of the current month, enter the TODAY function in the start_date argument and 0 in months:
=EOMONTH(TODAY(), 0)
You can find a few more EOMONTH formula examples in the following articles:
Excel WEEKDAY function
WEEKDAY(serial_number,[return_type]) function returns the day of the week corresponding to a date, as a number from 1 (Sunday) to 7 (Saturday).
- Serial_number can be a date, a reference to a cell containing a date, or a date returned by some other Excel function.
- Return_type (optional) - is a number that determines which day of the week shall be considered the first day.
You can find the complete list of available return types in the following tutorial: Day of the week function in Excel.
And here are a few WEEKEND formula examples:
=WEEKDAY(A2) - returns the day of the week corresponding to a date in cell A2; the 1st day of the week is Sunday (default).
=WEEKDAY(A2, 2) - returns the day of the week corresponding to a date in cell A2; the week begins on Monday.
=WEEKDAY(TODAY()) - returns a number corresponding to today's day of the week; the week begins on Sunday.
The WEEKDAY function can help you determine which dates in your Excel sheet are working days and which ones are weekend days, and also sort, filter or highlight workdays and weekends:
Excel DATEDIF function
DATEDIF(start_date, end_date, unit) function is specially designed to calculate the difference between two dates in days, months or years.
Which time interval to use for calculating the date difference depends on the letter you enter in the last argument:
=DATEDIF(A2, TODAY(), "d") - calculates the number of days between the date in A2 and today's date.
=DATEDIF(A2, A5, "m") - returns the number of complete months between the dates in A2 and B2.
=DATEDIF(A2, A5, "y") - returns the number of complete years between the dates in A2 and B2.
These are just the basic applications of the DATEDIF function and it is capable of much more, as demonstrated in the following examples:
Excel WEEKNUM function
WEEKNUM(serial_number, [return_type]) - returns the week number of a specific date as an integer from 1 to 53.
For example, the below formula returns 1 because the week containing January 1 is the first week in the year.
=WEEKNUM("1-Jan-2015")
The following tutorial explains all the specificities on the Excel WEEKNUM function: WEEKNUM function - calculating week number in Excel.
Alternatively you can skip directly to one of the formula examples:
Excel EDATE function
EDATE(start_date, months) function returns the serial number of the date that is the specified number of months before or after the start date.
For example:
=EDATE(A2, 5) - adds 5 months to the date in cell A2.
=EDATE(TODAY(), -5) - subtracts 5 months from today's date.
For a detailed explanation of EDATE formulas illustrated with formula examples, please see: How to use EDATE function in Excel.
Excel YEARFRAC function
YEARFRAC(start_date, end_date, [basis]) function calculates the proportion of the year between 2 dates.
This very specific function can be used to solve practical tasks such as calculating age from date of birth.
Excel WORKDAY function
WORKDAY(start_date, days, [holidays]) function returns a date N workdays before or after the start date. It automatically excludes weekend days from calculations as well as any holidays that you specify.
This function is very helpful for calculating milestones and other important events based on the standard working calendar.
For example, the following formula adds 45 weekdays to the start date in cell A2, ignoring holidays in cells B2:B8:
=WORKDAY(A2, 45, B2:B85)
For the detailed explanation of WORKDAY's syntax and more formula examples, please check out:
Excel WORKDAY.INTL function
WORKDAY.INTL(start_date, days, [weekend], [holidays]) is a more powerful variation of the WORKDAY function introduced in Excel 2010.
WORKDAY.INTL allows calculating a date N number of workdays in the future or in the past with custom weekend parameters.
For example, to get a date 20 workdays after the start date in cell A2, with Monday and Sunday counted as weekend days, you can use either of the following formulas:
=WORKDAY.INTL(A2, 20, 2, 7)
or
=WORKDAY.INTL(A2, 20, "1000001")
Of course, it might be difficult to grasp the essence from this short explanation, but more formula examples illustrated with screenshots will make things really easy:
Excel NETWORKDAYS function
NETWORKDAYS(start_date, end_date, [holidays]) function returns the number of weekdays between two dates that you specify. It automatically excludes weekend days and, optionally, the holidays.
For example, the following formula calculates the number of whole workdays between the start date in A2 and end date in B2, ignoring Saturdays and Sundays and excluding holidays in cells C2:C5:
=NETWORKDAYS(A2, B2, C2:C5)
You can find a comprehensive explanation of the NETWORKDAYS function's arguments illustrated with formula examples and screenshots in the following tutorial:
NETWORKDAYS function - calculating workdays between two dates
Excel NETWORKDAYS.INTL function
NETWORKDAYS.INTL(start_date, end_date, [weekend], [holidays]) is a more powerful modification of the NETWORKDAYS function available in Excel 2010 and later. It also returns the number of weekdays between two dates, but lets you specify which days should be counted as weekends.
Here is a basic NETWORKDAYS formula:
=NETWORKDAYS(A2, B2, 2, C2:C5)
The formula calculates the number of workdays between the date in A2 (start_date) and the date in B2 (end_date), excluding the weekend days Sunday and Monday (number 2 in the weekend parameter), and ignoring holidays in cells C2:C5.
For full details about the NETWORKDAYS.INTL function, please see:
NETWORKDAYS function - counting workdays with custom weekends
Hopefully, this 10K foot view on the Excel date functions has helped you gain the general understanding of how date formulas work in Excel. If you want to learn more, I encourage you to check out the formula examples referenced on this page. I thank you for reading and hope to see you again on our blog next week!
595 comments
I am looking to add a review date to a contract expiry date and convert it the month.
For example: expiry date is 02/09/2021 and I need to set the review date 90 days before.
I have =09/09/2021-90 and it returns 09/06/2021 but I would like to it to return June?
Hi,
Cell A2 contains the date 02-Sep-2021. Formula =A2-90 returns the result on 04-Jun-2021.
You can learn more about subtracting dates in Excel in this article on our blog
Hi Alex,
Im looking for a formula that escapes me at the minute, I have an invoice where the start date begins on the 21st of each month say 21/02/2021 in cell d3, in a column I have days in the week Sunday to Saturday cells a5:a11. In the formula I need the date to change based on the invoice start date, the 21st and the day in the week column a5:a11?
So If cell a5, which is Sunday is the 21st cell a6, Monday would become the 22nd etc.
I have done a formula like this before but it escapes me what the best way to do it is.
Thanks in advance
Can I conditionally format a column to let me know if the date I type in is a future date?
Hello!
Compare the date with the current date as written in this article.
HI,
I would like to know that i have date in a column(Ex: A2) which has to find if the same date fall between any given period.
Ex: 10-Feb-2021 located in column A2
Period: 1-Feb-2021 to 28-Feb-201 (located in another column)
Same kind of details need to find out multiple employee leave details
if A2 date fall between that particular period then i need to keep the remarks or need to highlight.
Thanks in advance for your assistance
Hello!
Dates are stored in Excel as numbers. Therefore, you need to compare dates as numbers.
=IF(AND(A2>=B2,A2<=C2),TRUE,FALSE)
Here is the article that may be helpful to you: Excel conditional formatting for dates & time.
I hope it’ll be helpful.
I am trying to figure out how to insert a date if the cell is not blank. As in when A2 is not blank, then B2 fills in today's date. I have tried various formulas and keep getting an error.
Hello!
If I understand your task correctly, the following formula should work for you:
=IF(A2<>"", IF(B2="",NOW(), B2), "")
To prevent your date from automatically changing, you can use several methods:
1. Use the recommendations from this article in our blog.
2. Replace the date and time returned by the TODAY function with their values. Copy the date (CTRL + C), then paste only the values using Paste Special or Shortcut CTRL + ALT + V.
I hope my advice will help you solve your task.
Is there a formula I can apply to two columns that automatically adjusts the dates by one should the start day be changed. For example, if I have a start date of 03/01/2021 and I change it to 03/02/2021, it automatically shifts the dates in the Start Date and End Date column below by however many days its been changed or by one day off what they currently are? I currently use excel to track tasks for construction projects and have manually changed all dates. This is time consuming but necessary to track progress. I appreciate your time.
Hello!
An Excel formula can only change the value of the cell in which it is written. In the columns Start Date and End Date, you need to write formulas that will automatically change dates. The information you have provided is not sufficient to provide more accurate advice.
Describe in detail what problem you have, and I will try to help you.
I wanted to prepare aging report for receivables with overdue days and what would be the formula if payment received
Hello!
I’m sorry but your task is not entirely clear to me. Could you please describe it in more detail? What result do you want to get? Give an example of the source data and the expected result.
I have a monthly payments due date what is the formula? Also I have couple of yearly (annually) payment due date so what is the formula for yearly date?
Hello!
Please check out this article to learn how to adding days, weeks, months and years to a date.
I hope my advice will help you solve your task.
Hi Team. I have calendar month, range from 1 to 30 day in cell A1 to A30 to and i have in cell A10=14, A11= 7. I have another work sheet call STAT and i wanted to display the SUM of A10 and A11 to dynamically for each day. The issue for me is looping each day dynamically. Hope you can help
Hi,
I’m sorry but your task is not entirely clear to me. For me to be able to help you better, please describe your task in more detail. Please specify what you were trying to find, what formula you used and what problem or error occurred. Give an example of the source data and the expected result.
It’ll help me understand it better and find a solution for you.
Is there a way to have the current date that will not update? I'm trying to track compliance dates - so for example when column D=0 column E will show the date that D first equaled 0.
Hello!
The date in the cell will not change only if it is entered as a timestamp.
To write in cell E1 the date when the value was entered in D1, you need to use a VBA macro.
I hope I answered your question.
Yes! - Thank you!!
I’m a senior nurse trying to figure out what formula I can use to get the duration (in hours) between 2 dates with times.
The way the cells are configured is
08/10/2018 06:00
06/11/2018 19:00
Please help
Hello!
Use a subtraction formula
=B2-A2
In a cell with a formula, apply a custom time format
"37:30:55"
I hope this will help, otherwise please do not hesitate to contact me anytime.
Amazing thank you
I need to include start date as well end date so what to do. I just did A2-B2+1. any other formula
Hi,
I’m sorry but your task is not entirely clear to me. Could you please describe it in more detail? What result do you want to get? Give an example of the source data and the expected result.
Hello,
I have a document that has a date in text form listed like Nov/19. When I use the date value formula, the formula converts it to Nov/20. Is there a formula I can use that will convert the text to the correct date?
Hello!
Unfortunately, I was unable to repeat your mistake. Please state exactly how your date is written. What formula are you using? What is the default date format?
Hi Team,
I was wondering if you could help with task have in hand. So i have a team monthly rota. The dates usually start for example 16th Nov - 13th Dec and another 14th Dec - 10 Dec and so on. In the rota column the dates are format horizontally as below:
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Mon. and so on.
Task: Am trying to populate data from the rota and another worksheet dynamically, have actually complete the task. But, need to select each month of the from a drop down menu and the data for that month will be populate along with the already VLOOPUP formulars.
Problem: How do i convert does weekly dates to 1 months and create a drop down menu as per the rota 16th Nov - 13th Dec and 14th Dec - 10 Dec list.
So i understand in formula is: =IF(above weekly date = 16th Nov - 13th Dec from dropdowm list, VLOOPUP(A1, ARRAY, COLUMN, FALSE), "","")
I can as well have a separate sheet where i can store the weekly date in month and create a validation list from there.
I hope this make sence, if not i can send you my screenshot data and you can have a look.
Looking forward to your swift response.
Thanks
Hi Team,
I have a date in one column A and the severity Level in Column B and i am trying to get the future due date in the column C. If the severity Level is Critical in column C then the future date should be after 30 days from the date mentioned in Column A.
Can anyone help me with this formula.
Hello!
Sorry, I do not fully understand the task. What does "severity Level"? Please describe your problem in more detail. Include an example of the source data and the result you want to get. It’ll help me understand your request better and find a solution for you.
Hi Team,
I am Cyber security Analyst and i am planning to automate teh report which in MS excel.
In one column there will be CVE ID and in next column it's severity level (critical, High, Medium and low) and CVE released date, based on these 3 things i have to update the future date when the Bug or patch has to fixed in our environment.
If the severity Level is Critical then the future date should be after 30 days from the date of CVE release.
Hello!
If I understand your task correctly, the following formula should work for you:
=IF(B2="critical",C2+30,"")
I hope it’ll be helpful.
Hi Expert,
How do I make the cell auto change for Due date (a fixed date) when the date is change (Actual Start Date - Plan Start Date(a fix date)). Can someone help please ?
Example:
Plan Start Date: 01/11/2020 (fixed)
Actual Start Date: 05/11/2020
Difference: 5 days
Due date : 30/10/2020 (fixed) + 5 days - this cell will auto change to 05/11/2020
So basically whenever have changes to Actual Start Date, Due date cell will change automatically based on the difference days count.
What's the formula to use in this situation ?i Thanks !
Hello!
If I understand your task correctly, the following formula should work for you:
=C1+(B1-A1)
A1 -start date
B1 - actual start date
C1 - due date
Hi Alexander,
Thanks for the reply, appreciate it. But that is not that what i want.
Plan Date Actual Start Date
01-Nov (A1) 05-Nov (B1)
Due date
30-Oct (B4)
03-Nov (B5)
My task is to make B4 and B5 to change automatically based on the difference between B1-A1. So my question is, what formula to put in cell B4 and B5 (already has a date in the cell) to make it both auto change based on the day difference. Hope it more clearer for you.
Appreciate much your helps !
Hello!
On our forum, we have already written many times that if there is some value in a cell, then the formula cannot be written into it. Your task can be solved using the VBA macro. It is impossible to solve it using an Excel formula.
Dear Sir,
Please guide me how to change next date into last date in excel
thanks & regard
I'm trying to populate todays date when a cell is not blank. Here is what I have for a formula:
=IF(ISBLANK([@[Shipping Release]]),"",TODAY())
I dont want the entire column to change to todays date but instead populate the day that information was input and not automatically update. Any ideas?
Hi,
Am still using excel 2007. So Daily making invoices by date by date. Suddenly when I open the old invoice for checks it’s showing as TODAYs date(current) .. so I need to solve that when opening old document. is there anyone can help me plz
Hello Sam!
Read this article - How to insert today's date in Excel. Read about Inserting today's date and current time in Excel
Hi,
Is there any formula to return previous day if the time is between 00:00 ~ 05:00 hrs
Hello!
If I understand your task correctly, the following formula should work for you:
=IF(AND(HOUR(B1)>0,HOUR(B1)<5),B1-1,B1)