Creating dates in excel

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Use Excel’s DATE function when you need to take three separate values and combine them to form a date.

The DATE function returns the sequential serial number that represents a particular date.

Syntax: DATE(year,month,day)

The DATE function syntax has the following arguments:

  • Year    Required. The value of the year argument can include one to four digits. Excel interprets the year argument according to the date system your computer is using. By default, Microsoft Excel for Windows uses the 1900 date system, which means the first date is January 1, 1900.

    Tip: Use four digits for the year argument to prevent unwanted results. For example, «07» could mean «1907» or «2007.» Four digit years prevent confusion.

    • If year is between 0 (zero) and 1899 (inclusive), Excel adds that value to 1900 to calculate the year. For example, DATE(108,1,2) returns January 2, 2008 (1900+108).

    • If year is between 1900 and 9999 (inclusive), Excel uses that value as the year. For example, DATE(2008,1,2) returns January 2, 2008.

    • If year is less than 0 or is 10000 or greater, Excel returns the #NUM! error value.

  • Month    Required. A positive or negative integer representing the month of the year from 1 to 12 (January to December).

    • If month is greater than 12, month adds that number of months to the first month in the year specified. For example, DATE(2008,14,2) returns the serial number representing February 2, 2009.

    • If month is less than 1, month subtracts the magnitude of that number of months, plus 1, from the first month in the year specified. For example, DATE(2008,-3,2) returns the serial number representing September 2, 2007.

  • Day    Required. A positive or negative integer representing the day of the month from 1 to 31.

    • If day is greater than the number of days in the month specified, day adds that number of days to the first day in the month. For example, DATE(2008,1,35) returns the serial number representing February 4, 2008.

    • If day is less than 1, day subtracts the magnitude that number of days, plus one, from the first day of the month specified. For example, DATE(2008,1,-15) returns the serial number representing December 16, 2007.

Note: Excel stores dates as sequential serial numbers so that they can be used in calculations. January 1, 1900 is serial number 1, and January 1, 2008 is serial number 39448 because it is 39,447 days after January 1, 1900. You will need to change the number format (Format Cells) in order to display a proper date.

DATE function example 1

Syntax: DATE(year,month,day)

For example: =DATE(C2,A2,B2) combines the year from cell C2, the month from cell A2, and the day from cell B2 and puts them into one cell as a date. The example below shows the final result in cell D2.

DATE function Example 2

Need to insert dates without a formula? No problem. You can insert the current date and time in a cell, or you can insert a date that gets updated. You can also fill data automatically in worksheet cells.

  1. Right-click the cell(s) you want to change. On a Mac, Ctrl-click the cells.

  2. On the Home tab click Format > Format Cells or press Ctrl+1 (Command+1 on a Mac).

  3. 3. Choose the Locale (location) and Date format you want.

  4. For more information on formatting dates, see Format a date the way you want.

    Format a cell as a date

You can use the DATE function to create a date that is based on another cell’s date. For example, you can use the YEAR, MONTH, and DAY functions to create an anniversary date that’s based on another cell. Let’s say an employee’s first day at work is 10/1/2016; the DATE function can be used to establish his fifth year anniversary date:

Calculate a date based on another date

  1. The DATE function creates a date.

    =DATE(YEAR(C2)+5,MONTH(C2),DAY(C2))

  2. The YEAR function looks at cell C2 and extracts «2012».

  3. Then, «+5» adds 5 years, and establishes «2017» as the anniversary year in cell D2.

  4. The MONTH function extracts the «3» from C2. This establishes «3» as the month in cell D2.

  5. The DAY function extracts «14» from C2. This establishes «14» as the day in cell D2.

If you open a file that came from another program, Excel will try to recognize dates within the data. But sometimes the dates aren’t recognizable. This is may be because the numbers don’t resemble a typical date, or because the data is formatted as text. If this is the case, you can use the DATE function to convert the information into dates. For example, in the following illustration, cell C2 contains a date that is in the format: YYYYMMDD. It is also formatted as text. To convert it into a date, the DATE function was used in conjunction with the LEFT, MID, and RIGHT functions.

Convert text strings and numbers into dates

  1. The DATE function creates a date.

    =DATE(LEFT(C2,4),MID(C2,5,2),RIGHT(C2,2))

  2. The LEFT function looks at cell C2 and takes the first 4 characters from the left. This establishes “2014” as the year of the converted date in cell D2.

  3. The MID function looks at cell C2. It starts at the 5th character, and then takes 2 characters to the right. This establishes “03” as the month of the converted date in cell D2. Because the formatting of D2 set to Date, the “0” isn’t included in the final result.

  4. The RIGHT function looks at cell C2 and takes the first 2 characters starting from the very right and moving left. This establishes “14” as the day of the date in D2.

To increase or decrease a date by a certain number of days, simply add or subtract the number of days to the value or cell reference containing the date.

In the example below, cell A5 contains the date that we want to increase and decrease by 7 days (the value in C5).

Increase or decrease a date by a certain number of days

See Also

Add or subtract dates

Insert the current date and time in a cell

Fill data automatically in worksheet cells

YEAR function

MONTH function

DAY function

TODAY function

DATEVALUE function

Date and time functions (reference)

All Excel functions (by category)

All Excel functions (alphabetical)

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Date Range in Excel Formula

We need to perform different operations like addition or subtraction on date values with Excel. By setting date ranges in Excel, we can perform calculations on these dates. For setting date ranges in Excel, we can first format the cells that have a start and end date as ‘Date’ and then use the operators: ‘+’ or ‘-‘to determine the end date or range duration.

For example, suppose we have two dates in cells A2 and B2. To create a date range, we may use the following formula with the TEXT function:

=TEXT(A2,”mm/dd”)&” – “&TEXT(B2,”mm/dd”)

Date Range in Excel

Table of contents
  • Date Range in Excel Formula
    • Examples of Date Range in Excel
      • Example #1 – Basic Date Ranges
      • Example #2 – Creating Date Sequence
      • Example #3
      • Example #4
    • Things to Remember
    • Recommended Articles

Examples of Date Range in Excel

You can download this Date Range Excel Template here – Date Range Excel Template

Example #1 – Basic Date Ranges

Let us see how adding a number to a date can create a date range.

Suppose we have a start date in cell A2.

Date Range Example 1

If we add a number, say 5, to it, we can build a date range.

Date Range Example 1-1

Date Range Example 1-2

When we select cell A3 and type “=B2 + 1.”

Date Range Example 1-3

Then, we need to copy cell B2 and paste it into cell B3; the relative cell referenceCell reference in excel is referring the other cells to a cell to use its values or properties. For instance, if we have data in cell A2 and want to use that in cell A1, use =A2 in cell A1, and this will copy the A2 value in A1.read more would change as follows:

Date Range Example 1-5

So we can see that multiple date ranges can be built this way.

Example #2 – Creating Date Sequence

With Excel, we can easily create several sequences. Now we know that dates are some numbers in Excel. So we can use the same method to generate date ranges. So to create date ranges that have the same range or gap, but the dates change as we go down, we can follow the below steps:

  • We must first type a start date and end date in a minimum of two rows.

Example 2

  • Then, select the ranges and drag them down below the row where we require the dates ranges.

Example 2-1

Date Range Example 2-2

So we can see that using the date ranges in the first two rows as a template, Excel automatically creates date ranges for the subsequent rows.

Example #3

Now, suppose we have two dates in two cells, and we wish to display them concatenated as a date range in a single cell. For doing this, we can use a formula based on the ‘TEXT’ function can be used. The general syntax for this formula is as follows:

= TEXT(date1,”format”) & ” – ” & TEXT(date2,”format”)

Case 1:

This function receives two date values as numeric and concatenates these two dates in the form of a date range according to a custom date format (“mmm d” in this case):

Date Range =TEXT(A2,”mmm d”) & “-” & TEXT(B2,”mmm d”)

Date Range Example 3

So we can see in the above screenshot that we have applied the formula in cell C2. The TEXT function receives the dates stored in cells A2 and B2. The ampersand ‘&’ operator is used to concatenate the two dates as a date range in a custom format, specified as “mmm d” in this case, in a single cell, and the two dates are joined with a hyphen ‘-‘ in the resultant date range which is determined in cell C2.

Case 2:

In this example, we wish to combine the two dates as a date range in a single cell with a different format, say “d mmm yy.” So the formula for a date range, in this case, would be as follows:

Date Range =TEXT(A3,”d mmm yy”) & “-” & TEXT(B3,”d mmm yy”)

Date Range Example 3-1

So we can see in the above screenshot that the TEXT function receives the dates stored in cells A3 and B3, and the ampersand ‘&’ operator is used to concatenate the two dates as a date range in a custom format, specified as “d mmm yy” in this case, in a single cell. Then, finally, the two dates are joined with a hyphen ‘-‘in the resultant date range determined in cell C3.

Example #4

Now let us see what happens if the start date or end date is missing. For example, suppose the end date is missing as follows:

Example 4

The formula based on the TEXT function that we have used above would not work correctly if the end date is missing. As the hyphen in the formula would anyhow be appended to the start date, i.e., along with the start date, we would also see a hyphen displayed in the date range. In contrast, we would only wish to see the start date as the date range if the end date is missing.

So, in this case, we can have the formula by wrapping the concatenation and the second TEXT function inside an IF clause as follows:

Date Range =TEXT(A2,”mmm d”) & IF(B2<> “”, “-” & TEXT(B2,”mmm d”), “”)

Example 4-1

So we can see that the above formula creates a full date range using both the dates when both are present. However, it displays only the start date in the specified format if the end date is missing. It is done with the help of an IF clause.

Now in case both the dates are missing, we could use a nested IF statement in excelIn Excel, nested if function means using another logical or conditional function with the if function to test multiple conditions. For example, if there are two conditions to be tested, we can use the logical functions AND or OR depending on the situation, or we can use the other conditional functions to test even more ifs inside a single if.read more, (i.e., one IF inside another IF statement) as follows:

Date Range =IF(A4<>””,TEXT(A4,”mmm d”) & IF(B4<> “”, “-” & TEXT(B4,”mmm d”), “”),””)

Date Range Example 4-2

So we can see that the above formula returns an empty string if the start date is missing.

If both the dates are missing, an empty string is also returned.

Date Range Example 4-3

Things to Remember

  • We can even create a list of sequential dates using the ‘Fill Handle’ command. We can select the cell having a start date and then drag it to the range of cells where we wish to fill. Next, click on the “Home” tab -> “Editing” ->”Fill Series” and then choose a date unit we want to use.
  • If we wish to calculate the duration or number of days between two dates, we can subtract the two dates using the ‘-‘operator, and we will get the desired result.

Example (Subtract)

Note: The format of cells: A2 and B2 is ‘Date,’ whereas that of cell C2 is ‘General’ as it calculates the number of days.

Recommended Articles

This article has been a guide to Date Range in Excel. Here, we discuss formulas to create date ranges in Excel in different ways and a downloadable Excel template. You may learn more about Excel from the following articles: –

  • DATE Excel Function
  • EDATE Excel Function
  • Subtract Date In Excel
  • Compare Dates in Excel
Date yes Add (Subtract) Days to a Date Concatenate Dates Convert Date to Number Convert Date to Text Month Name to Number Create Date Range from Dates Day Number of Year Month Name from Date First Day of Month Add (Subtract) Weeks to a Date If Functions with Dates Max Date Number of Days Between Dates Number of Days in a Month Number of Weeks Between Dates Number of Years Between Dates Split Date & Time into Separate Cells Countdown Remaining Days Insert Dates Random Date Generator Using Dynamic Ranges — Year to Date Values Add (Subtract) Years to a Date Date Formula Examples Extract Day from Date Get Day Name from Date Count Days Left in Month / Year Count Workdays Left in Month / Year Get Last Day of Month Last Business Day of Month / Year Number of Work / Business Days in Month Weekday Abbreviations Auto Populate Dates Number of Months Between Dates Quarter from a Date Years of Service Change Date Format Compare Dates Time yes Add (Subtract) Hours to Time Add (Subtract) Minutes to Time Add (Subtract) Seconds to Time Add Up time (Total Time) Time Differences Change Time Format Convert Minutes to Hours Convert Time to Decimal Convert Time to Hours Convert Time to Minutes Convert Time to Seconds Military Time Round Time to Nearest 15 Minutes Overtime Calculator Number of Hours Between Times Convert Seconds to Minutes, Hours, or Time Count Hours Worked Time Differences Time Format — Show Minutes Seconds Text yes Add Commas to Cells Get First Word from Text Capitalize First Letter Clean & Format Phone #s Remove Extra Trailing / Leading Spaces Add Spaces to Cell Assign Number Value to Text Combine Cells with Comma Combine First and Last Names Convert Text String to Date Convert Text to Number Extract Text From Cell Get Last Word Remove Unwated Characters Extract Text Before or After Character How to Split Text String by Space, Comma, & More Remove Special Characters Remove First Characters from Left Substitute Multiple Values Switch First & Last Names w/ Commas Remove Specific Text from a Cell Extract Text Between Characters (Ex. Parenthesis) Add Leading Zeros to a Number Remove Line Breaks from Text Remove all Numbers from Text Reverse Text Remove Non-Numeric Characters Remove Last Character(s) From Right Separate First and Last Names Separate Text & Numbers Round yes Round Formulas Round Price to Nearest Dollar or Cent Round to Nearest 10, 100, or 1000 Round to Nearest 5 or .5 Round Percentages Round to Significant Figures Count yes Count Blank and Non-blank Cells Count Cells Between Two Numbers Count Cells not Equal to Count if Cells are in Range Count Times Word Appears in Cell Count Words in Cell Count Specific Characters in Column Count Total Number of Characters in Column Count Cells that Equal one of two Results Count Cells that do not Contain Count Cells that Contain Specific Text Count Unique Values in Range Countif — Multiple Criteria Count Total Number of Cells in Range Count Cells with Any Text Count Total Cells in a Table Lookup yes Two Dimensional VLOOKUP VLOOKUP Simple Example Vlookup — Multiple Matches Case Sensitive Lookup Case Sensitive VLOOKUP Sum if — VLOOKUP Case Sensitive Lookup Case Sensitive VLOOKUP Find Duplicates w/ VLOOKUP or MATCH INDEX MATCH MATCH Lookup — Return Cell Address (Not Value) Lookup Last Value in Column or Row Reverse VLOOKUP (Right to Left) Risk Score Bucket with VLOOKUP Sum with a VLOOKUP Function VLOOKUP & INDIRECT VLOOKUP Concatenate VLOOKUP Contains (Partial Match) 17 Reasons Why Your XLOOKUP is Not Working Double (Nested) XLOOKUP — Dynamic Columns IFERROR (& IFNA) XLOOKUP Lookup Min / Max Value Nested VLOOKUP Top 11 Alternatives to VLOOKUP (Updated 2022!) VLOOKUP – Dynamic Column Reference VLOOKUP – Fix #N/A Error VLOOKUP – Multiple Sheets at Once VLOOKUP & HLOOKUP Combined VLOOKUP & MATCH Combined VLOOKUP Between Worksheets or Spreadsheets VLOOKUP Duplicate Values VLOOKUP Letter Grades VLOOKUP Return Multiple Columns VLOOKUP Returns 0? Return Blank Instead VLOOKUP w/o #N/A Error XLOOKUP Multiple Sheets at Once XLOOKUP Between Worksheets or Spreadsheets XLOOKUP by Date XLOOKUP Duplicate Values XLOOKUP Multiple Criteria XLOOKUP Return Multiple Columns XLOOKUP Returns 0? Return Blank Instead XLOOKUP Text XLOOKUP with IF XLOOKUP With If Statement Misc. yes Sort Multiple Columns Use Cell Value in Formula Percentage Change Between Numbers Percentage Breakdown Rank Values Add Spaces to Cell CAGR Formula Average Time Decimal Part of Number Integer Part of a Number Compare Items in a List Dealing with NA() Errors Get Worksheet Name Wildcard Characters Hyperlink to Current Folder Compound Interest Formula Percentage Increase Create Random Groups Sort with the Small and Large Functions Non-volatile Function Alternatives Decrease a Number by a Percentage Calculate Percent Variance Profit Margin Calculator Convert Column Number to Letter Get Full Address of Named Range Insert File Name Insert Path Latitute / Longitude Functions Replace Negative Values Reverse List Range Convert State Name to Abbreviation Create Dynamic Hyperlinks Custom Sort List with Formula Data Validation — Custom Formulas Dynamic Sheet Reference (INDIRECT) Reference Cell in Another Sheet or Workbook Get Cell Value by Address Get Worksheet Name Increment Cell Reference List Sheet Names List Skipped Numbers in Sequence Return Address of Max Value in Range Search by Keywords Select Every Other (or Every nth) Row Basics yes Cell Reference Basics — A1, R1C1, 3d, etc. Add Up (Sum) Entire Column or Row Into to Dynamic Array Formulas Conversions yes Convert Time Zones Convert Celsius to Fahrenheit Convert Pounds to Kilograms Convert Time to Unix Time Convert Feet to Meters Convert Centimeters to Inches Convert Kilometers to Miles Convert Inches to Feet Convert Date to Julian Format Convert Column Letter to Number Tests yes Test if a Range Contains any Text Test if any Cell in Range is Number Test if a Cell Contains a Specific Value Test if Cell Contains Any Number Test if Cell Contains Specific Number Test if Cell is Number or Text If yes Percentile If Subtotal If Sumproduct If Large If and Small If Median If Concatentate If Max If Rank If TEXTJOIN If Sum yes Sum if — Begins With / Ends With Sum if — Month or Year to Date Sum if — By Year Sum if — Blank / Non-Blank Sum if — Horizontal Sum Count / Sum If — Cell Color INDIRECT Sum Sum If — Across Multiple Sheets Sum If — By Month Sum If — Cells Not Equal To Sum If — Not Blank Sum if — Between Values Sum If — Week Number Sum Text Sum if — By Category or Group Sum if — Cell Contains Specific Text (Wildcards) Sum if — Date Rnage Sum if — Dates Equal Sum if — Day of Week Sum if — Greater Than Sum if — Less Than Average yes Average Non-Zero Values Average If — Not Blank Average — Ignore 0 Average — Ignore Errors Math yes Multiplication Table Cube Roots nth Roots Square Numbers Square Roots Calculations yes Calculate a Ratio Calculate Age KILLLLLLL Calculate Loan Payments GPA Formula Calculate VAT Tax How to Grade Formulas Find yes Find a Number in a Column / Workbook Find Most Frequent Numbers Find Smallest n Values Find nth Occurance of Character in Text Find and Extract Number from String Find Earliest or Latest Date Based on Criteria Find First Cell with Any Value Find Last Row Find Last Row with Data Find Missing Values Find Largest n Values Most Frequent Number Conditional Formatting yes Conditional Format — Dates & Times Conditional Format — Highlight Blank Cells New Functions XLOOKUP Replaces VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and INDEX / MATCH Logical yes AND Checks whether all conditions are met. TRUE/FALSE IF If condition is met, do something, if not, do something else. IFERROR If result is an error then do something else. NOT Changes TRUE to FALSE and FALSE to TRUE. OR Checks whether any conditions are met. TRUE/FALSE XOR Checks whether one and only one condition is met. TRUE/FALSE Lookup & Reference yes FALSE The logical value: FALSE. TRUE The logical value: TRUE. ADDRESS Returns a cell address as text. AREAS Returns the number of areas in a reference. CHOOSE Chooses a value from a list based on it’s position number. COLUMN Returns the column number of a cell reference. COLUMNS Returns the number of columns in an array. HLOOKUP Lookup a value in the first row and return a value. HYPERLINK Creates a clickable link. INDEX Returns a value based on it’s column and row numbers. INDIRECT Creates a cell reference from text. LOOKUP Looks up values either horizontally or vertically. MATCH Searches for a value in a list and returns its position. OFFSET Creates a reference offset from a starting point. ROW Returns the row number of a cell reference. ROWS Returns the number of rows in an array. TRANSPOSE Flips the oriention of a range of cells. VLOOKUP Lookup a value in the first column and return a value. Date & Time yes DATE Returns a date from year, month, and day. DATEDIF Number of days, months or years between two dates. DATEVALUE Converts a date stored as text into a valid date DAY Returns the day as a number (1-31). DAYS Returns the number of days between two dates. DAYS360 Returns days between 2 dates in a 360 day year. EDATE Returns a date, n months away from a start date. EOMONTH Returns the last day of the month, n months away date. HOUR Returns the hour as a number (0-23). MINUTE Returns the minute as a number (0-59). MONTH Returns the month as a number (1-12). NETWORKDAYS Number of working days between 2 dates. NETWORKDAYS.INTL Working days between 2 dates, custom weekends. NOW Returns the current date and time. SECOND Returns the second as a number (0-59) TIME Returns the time from a hour, minute, and second. TIMEVALUE Converts a time stored as text into a valid time. TODAY Returns the current date. WEEKDAY Returns the day of the week as a number (1-7). WEEKNUM Returns the week number in a year (1-52). WORKDAY The date n working days from a date. WORKDAY.INTL The date n working days from a date, custom weekends. YEAR Returns the year. YEARFRAC Returns the fraction of a year between 2 dates. Engineering yes CONVERT Convert number from one unit to another. Financial yes FV Calculates the future value. PV Calculates the present value. NPER Calculates the total number of payment periods. PMT Calculates the payment amount. RATE Calculates the interest Rate. NPV Calculates the net present value. IRR The internal rate of return for a set of periodic CFs. XIRR The internal rate of return for a set of non-periodic CFs. PRICE Calculates the price of a bond. YIELD Calculates the bond yield. INTRATE The interest rate of a fully invested security. Information yes CELL Returns information about a cell. ERROR.TYPE Returns a value representing the cell error. ISBLANK Test if cell is blank. TRUE/FALSE ISERR Test if cell value is an error, ignores #N/A. TRUE/FALSE ISERROR Test if cell value is an error. TRUE/FALSE ISEVEN Test if cell value is even. TRUE/FALSE ISFORMULA Test if cell is a formula. TRUE/FALSE ISLOGICAL Test if cell is logical (TRUE or FALSE). TRUE/FALSE ISNA Test if cell value is #N/A. TRUE/FALSE ISNONTEXT Test if cell is not text (blank cells are not text). TRUE/FALSE ISNUMBER Test if cell is a number. TRUE/FALSE ISODD Test if cell value is odd. TRUE/FALSE ISREF Test if cell value is a reference. TRUE/FALSE ISTEXT Test if cell is text. TRUE/FALSE N Converts a value to a number. NA Returns the error: #N/A. TYPE Returns the type of value in a cell. Math yes ABS Calculates the absolute value of a number. AGGREGATE Define and perform calculations for a database or a list. CEILING Rounds a number up, to the nearest specified multiple. COS Returns the cosine of an angle. DEGREES Converts radians to degrees. DSUM Sums database records that meet certain criteria. EVEN Rounds to the nearest even integer. EXP Calculates the exponential value for a given number. FACT Returns the factorial. FLOOR Rounds a number down, to the nearest specified multiple. GCD Returns the greatest common divisor. INT Rounds a number down to the nearest integer. LCM Returns the least common multiple. LN Returns the natural logarithm of a number. LOG Returns the logarithm of a number to a specified base. LOG10 Returns the base-10 logarithm of a number. MOD Returns the remainder after dividing. MROUND Rounds a number to a specified multiple. ODD Rounds to the nearest odd integer. PI The value of PI. POWER Calculates a number raised to a power. PRODUCT Multiplies an array of numbers. QUOTIENT Returns the integer result of division. RADIANS Converts an angle into radians. RAND Calculates a random number between 0 and 1. RANDBETWEEN Calculates a random number between two numbers. ROUND Rounds a number to a specified number of digits. ROUNDDOWN Rounds a number down (towards zero). ROUNDUP Rounds a number up (away from zero). SIGN Returns the sign of a number. SIN Returns the sine of an angle. SQRT Calculates the square root of a number. SUBTOTAL Returns a summary statistic for a series of data. SUM Adds numbers together. SUMIF Sums numbers that meet a criteria. SUMIFS Sums numbers that meet multiple criteria. SUMPRODUCT Multiplies arrays of numbers and sums the resultant array. TAN Returns the tangent of an angle. TRUNC Truncates a number to a specific number of digits. Stats yes AVERAGE Averages numbers. AVERAGEA Averages numbers. Includes text & FALSE =0, TRUE =1. AVERAGEIF Averages numbers that meet a criteria. AVERAGEIFS Averages numbers that meet multiple criteria. CORREL Calculates the correlation of two series. COUNT Counts cells that contain a number. COUNTA Count cells that are non-blank. COUNTBLANK Counts cells that are blank. COUNTIF Counts cells that meet a criteria. COUNTIFS Counts cells that meet multiple criteria. FORECAST Predict future y-values from linear trend line. FREQUENCY Counts values that fall within specified ranges. GROWTH Calculates Y values based on exponential growth. INTERCEPT Calculates the Y intercept for a best-fit line. LARGE Returns the kth largest value. LINEST Returns statistics about a trendline. MAX Returns the largest number. MEDIAN Returns the median number. MIN Returns the smallest number. MODE Returns the most common number. PERCENTILE Returns the kth percentile. PERCENTILE.INC Returns the kth percentile. Where k is inclusive. PERCENTILE.EXC Returns the kth percentile. Where k is exclusive. QUARTILE Returns the specified quartile value. QUARTILE.INC Returns the specified quartile value. Inclusive. QUARTILE.EXC Returns the specified quartile value. Exclusive. RANK Rank of a number within a series. RANK.AVG Rank of a number within a series. Averages. RANK.EQ Rank of a number within a series. Top Rank. SLOPE Calculates the slope from linear regression. SMALL Returns the kth smallest value. STDEV Calculates the standard deviation. STDEV.P Calculates the SD of an entire population. STDEV.S Calculates the SD of a sample. STDEVP Calculates the SD of an entire population TREND Calculates Y values based on a trendline. Text yes CHAR Returns a character specified by a code. CLEAN Removes all non-printable characters. CODE Returns the numeric code for a character. CONCATENATE Combines text together. DOLLAR Converts a number to text in currency format. EXACT Test if cells are exactly equal. Case-sensitive. TRUE/FALSE FIND Locates position of text within a cell.Case-sensitive. LEFT Truncates text a number of characters from the left. LEN Counts number of characters in text. LOWER Converts text to lower case. MID Extracts text from the middle of a cell. PROPER Converts text to proper case. REPLACE Replaces text based on it’s location. REPT Repeats text a number of times. RIGHT Truncates text a number of characters from the right. SEARCH Locates position of text within a cell.Not Case-sensitive. SUBSTITUTE Finds and replaces text. Case-sensitive. TEXT Converts a value into text with a specific number format. TRIM Removes all extra spaces from text. UPPER Converts text to upper case. VALUE Converts a number stored as text into a number.

In Microsoft Excel, the date can be inserted in a variety of ways, including using a built-in function formula or manually entering the date, such as 22/03/2021, 22-Mar-21, 22-Mar, or March 22, 2021. These date functions are typically used for cash flows in accounting and financial analysis.

In Excel, there is a built-in function called TODAY() that will insert the exact today’s date and will give the updated date whenever the workbook is opened. The NOW() built-in function can also be used to insert the current date and time, and this function will be kept up to date if we open the workbook multiple times.

Inserting the date:

In the Formula tab, the built-in TODAY is categorized under the DATE/TIME function.

 Alternate to insert the date in Excel the below keyboard shortcut can be used:

CTRL+; 

It will insert the current date.

To insert the current date and time we can use the following shortcut keys:

CTRL+; <space key> CTRL+SHIFT+;

It returns the current date and time to us.

1. Inserting specific date in Excel:

We have to use DATE() to insert a specific valid date in Excel. We can notice in the above function that the DATE requests to provide Year, Month, Day values. If we provide the details, the default date will be shown as below:

Image 1.1

Image 1.2

2. Inserting static date and time: 

A static value in a sheet does not change if the sheet is recalculated or opened. To do so follow the below steps:

Step 1: Select the cell in which the current date or time will be inserted on a table.

Step 2: Do one of the next:

  • Press Ctrl+;(semi-colon) to insert your current date.
  • Press the Ctrl+Shift+;(semi-colon) to insert the current time.
  • Press Ctrl+;(semi-column) to insert the current date and time then press Space, and press Ctrl+Shift+; (semi-colon).

Static date and time 

3. Inserting a date in Excel via a drop-down calendar:

It may be a good idea to include a down calendar in your worksheet if you set up a table for other users and want to make sure that the dates enter correctly. You can fill in the dates with a mouse click and be 100% confident that all dates are entered in a suitable format. You can use Microsoft Date Picker control when you use a 32-bit version of Excel. Microsoft Date Picker Control will not work when you are using a 64-bit Excel 2016, Excel 2013 version.

4. Inserting an automatically updatable today’s date and current time:

If you want to keep your Excel date up-to-date today, use one of the following Excel date functions:

=TODAY() -> inserts in a cell the current date.
=NOW() -> inserts in a cell the current and current date.

=TODAY example

=NOW example

Please remember that when using the Excel date functions:

  1. The date and the time returned will not be refreshed on an ongoing basis, but only when the chain is reopened or re-calculated.
  2. The functions take the current system clock date and time.

5. Auto-populate dates in Excel

To autofill a series of dates in which one day is incremented, you can use the Excel AutoFill function. It is a common way to automatically fill a column or row. To do so follow the below steps:

  • Enter the original date in the first cell.
  • Click the first date on your cell and then drag the fill handle to or from the cells you want Excel to add dates.

Autofill weekdays, months, or years:

There are two ways of automatically adding weekdays, months, or years to the selected range of cells. To so follow the below steps:

  1. You can use the above-mentioned Excel AutoFill options. Click the AutoFill Options icon and choose the option you want when the range is populated by sequential dates.
  2. Another way to enter your first date will be to right-click the fill handle and drag and release the fill handle through the cells you automatically want to fill with dates. Excel displays a context menu and selects the appropriate option.

 Auto-populate dates

  1. Image titled Set a Date in Excel Step 1

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    Type the desired date into a cell. Double-click the cell in which you want to type the date, and then enter the date using any recognizable date format. You can enter the date in a variety of different formats.[1]

    • Using January 3 as an example, some recognizable formats are «Jan 03,» «January 3», «1/3,» and «01-3.»
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    Press the Enter key. As long as Excel recognizes the date format, it will re-format the cell as a date, which is usually mm/dd/yyyy or dd/mm/yyyy, depending on your locale.

    • If the text automatically aligned to the right, then Excel recognized it as a date and re-formatted it.
    • If the text stayed aligned to the left, Excel is treating the input as text rather than a date. This could be because it cannot recognize your input as a date, or because that cell’s format is set to something besides a date.

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    Right-click the date cell and select Format Cells. A new window will pop up.

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    Click the Number tab. It’s the first tab.

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    Select Date in the «Category» panel. A variety of date formats will appear on the right side of the window.

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    Select your desired date format under «Type.» This reformats the selected cell to display in this format.

    • You can also change your locale to access date formats used in your location.
  7. 7

    Click OK. The selected cell(s) will now display dates in the selected format.

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Image titled Set a Date in Excel Step 7

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    Click the cell in which you want today’s date to appear. This can be in an existing formula, or in a new cell.

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    Type an equal sign = followed by the formula TODAY(). If you wish to retrieve the current time as well, use NOW() instead of TODAY().[2]

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    Hit Enter. Excel will return today’s date as the cell value. This is a dynamic date, meaning it will change depending on when you are viewing the sheet.

    • Use the shortcuts Ctrl + ; and Ctrl + Shift + ; instead to set a cell’s value to today’s date and time respectively as a static value. These values will not update, and act as a timestamp.
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    Click the cell in which you want to type the date.

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    Type an equal sign = followed by the date formula DATE(year, month, day). Year, month, and day should be numerical inputs.

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    Hit Enter. Excel will return the default date format, which is usually mm/dd/yyyy or dd/mm/yyyy depending on your locale.

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    Expand on the formula if required. You can set formulas for the year, month, and day values. Or, you can use the DATE function within other formulas.

    • For instance, DATE(2010,MONTH(TODAY()),DAY(TODAY())) sets the cell’s value as today’s month and day in 2010. The formula DATE(2020,1,1)-10 sets the value to 10 days before 1/1/2020.
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  1. Image titled Set a Date in Excel Step 15

    1

    Type the desired date into a cell. Double-click the cell in which you want to type the date, and then enter the date using any recognizable date format. You can enter the date in a variety of different formats.

    • Using January 3 as an example, some recognizable formats are «Jan 03,» «January 3», «1/3,» and «01-3.»
  2. Image titled Set a Date in Excel Step 16

    2

    Hit Enter. Excel will re-format the cell and align the text to the right if it has recognized it as a date.

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    Select all the cells you wish to fill with dates. Include the cell in which you just entered the date. To select, drag your mouse over all the cells, select an entire column or row, or hold Ctrl (PC) or Cmd (Mac) while clicking each cell.

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    Click Fill on the Home tab. It’s at the top of Excel in the «Editing» section and looks like a white box with a blue down arrow.

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    Click Series…. It is near the bottom.

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    Select a «Date unit.» Excel will use this to fill the blank cells based on this setting.

    • For instance, if you select «Weekday,» all the blank cells will populate with the weekdays following the initial input date.
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    Click OK. Make sure the are dates filled in correctly.

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  • Set a custom date format in Excel by right-clicking a cell, clicking Format Cells, and selecting «Custom» as the category in the Number tab. Review the available date options. Create your own by typing the format code using an existing code.

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References

About This Article

Article SummaryX

1. Click on a cell.
2. Type in a date.
3. Hit Enter.
4. Review the date format. Change by right-clicking and selecting Format Cells.

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