Date codes in excel

What is the Date Format in Excel?

In Excel, a date is displayed according to the format selected by the user. One can choose from the different formats available or create a customized format according to the requirement. The default date format is specified in the “Control Panel” of the system. However, it is possible to change these default settings.

For example, the date 01/01/2021 corresponds to the format dd/mm/yyyy. If the format is changed to d-mmm-yyyy, the date becomes 1-Jan-2021.

We can change the date format in Excel either from the “Number Format” of the “Home” tab or the “Format Cells” option of the context menu.

In Excel for Windows, 1900 is the default date system. Whereas, in Excel for Mac, 1904 is the default date system. Both these systems store the dates as consecutive numbers having a difference of 1. These numbers are known as serial values or serial numbers. The reason dates are stored as serial numbers is to facilitate calculations.

In the 1900 date system, the first date that Excel recognizes is January 1, 1900. This date is stored as the number 1 in Excel. Consequently, the number 2 represents January 2, 1900. The last date recognized by Excel is December 31, 9999. It is represented by the serial number 2958465. Date before 1900 or after 9999 is identified as a text value by Excel.

Dates are stored only as positive integers in the 1900 date system. However, to display negative numbers as negative dates, one needs to switch to the 1904 date system.

In the 1904 date system, 0 represents January 1, 1904, and -1 means January -2, 1904. The number 1 represents January 2, 1904. The last date recognized by Excel (in the 1904 date system) is December 31, 9999, represented by the serial number 2957003.

In this article, we follow the 1900 date system.

Code of Date Format in Excel

A code (like dd-mm-yyyy) is a representation of a day (d), month (m), and year (y). We can change the appearance of the date by changing the specified code.

The different codes, their explanation, and output (for days, months, and years) have been presented in the following images.

Notations for a Day

Notations for a Month

Notations for a Year

How to Change Date Format in Excel?

Here we look at some of the date format examples in Excel and how to change them.

Example #1–Apply Default Format of Long Date in Excel

The following image shows a number in cell A1. We want to know the date represented by this number. The output should be in the long date format of Excel.

You can download this Change Date Format Excel Template here – Change Date Format Excel Template

Example #2–Change the Date Excel Format Using “Custom” Option

The following image shows some dates in the range A1:A6. These dates are in the format dd-mm-yyyy. We want to change their format to dd-mmmm-yyyy.

For instance, the date in cell A1 should appear as 25-February-2018. We may use the “Custom” option of the “Format Cells” dialog box.

The steps to change the date format in Excel are listed as follows:

Step 1: We need to select all the dates of the range A1:A6. The same is shown in the following image.

Step 2: We must right-click the selection and choose “Format Cells” from the context menu. Alternatively, we may also press the keys “Ctrl+1” together.

Step 3: The “Format Cells” window opens, as shown in the following image.  

Note: The default short date and long date formats are marked with an asterisk (*) in the box under “type.” The short date is 3/14/2012 (m/dd/yyyy), and the long date is Wednesday, March 14, 2012 (dddd, mmmm dd, yyyy).

Step 4: From the “Number” tab, we need to select “Custom” under “Category.” The categories are shown on the left side of the “Format Cells” window.

Step 5: Under “Type,” we must insert the required date format. Either type the format (dd-mmmm-yyyy) or select it from the various options displayed in the box below “Type.”

Once the format has been entered, check the preview of the first date (of the range A1:A6) under “Sample.” The same is shown in the following image. Click “OK” in the “Format Cells” window if the date preview looks good.

Note 1: The date under “Sample” is displayed according to the format specified under “Type.”

Note 2: While creating custom date formats, we can use a forward slash (/), hyphen (-), comma (,), space ( ), etc.

Step 6: The output is shown in the following image. All dates of the range A1:A6 have been converted to the format dd-mmmm-yyyy. However, the Excel formula bar can still see the default date format. This default format corresponds with the short date set in the “Control Panel.”

Example #3–Apply Different Types of Customized Date Formats in Excel

The next image shows certain dates in the range A1:A6. At present, the date format is dd-mm-yyyy.

We want to apply four different formats to these dates. For using each format, the common steps to be performed are given as follows:

1. First, we must select the range A1:A6.
2. Then, right-click the selection and choose “Format Cells.”
3. After that, from the “Number” tab, select “Custom” under “Category.”

Further, under each format, the additional steps to be performed followed by two images are given.

Format 1: dd-mmm-yyyy

1. In the “Custom” option of the “Number” tab, select the format “dd-mmm-yyyy” under “Type.”
2. Click “Ok.”

The output is given in the following image. All dates are displayed according to the format dd-mmm-yyyy. The hyphen is the separator between the day, month, and year in this format.

Format 2: dd mmm yyyy

1. We must select the format “dd mmm yyyy” under “Type” of the “custom” option.
2. Click “Ok.”

The output is given in the following image. All dates are converted to the format dd mmm yyyy. The space is the only separator between the day, month, and year in this format.

Format 3: ddd mmm yyyy

1. In the “Custom” option, select the format “ddd mmm yyyy” under “Type.”
2. Click “Ok.”

The output is given in the following image. The dates are shown in the format ddd mmm yyyy. The day and the month are displayed in their short notations in this format.

Format 4: dddd mmmm yyyy

1. From the “Custom” option of the “Number” tab, select “dddd mmmm yyyy” under “Type.”
2. Click “Ok.”

The output is given in the following image. All dates have been converted to the format dddd mmmm yyyy. The date, month, and year are displayed in their respective full forms in this format.

It must be observed that the date format changes as per the style set by the user. Therefore, the user can select a date format according to their convenience.

Example #4–Convert Text Values Representing Dates to Actual Dates

The following image shows a list of dates in the range A1:A6. At present, these dates are appearing as text values. We want to convert these text values to dates having the format dd-mmm-yyyy.

The steps to convert text values to dates having the given format are listed as follows:

Step 1: First, enter the following formula in cell B1.

“=VALUE(A1)”

Then, press the “Enter” key.

Note 1: The VALUE functionIn Excel, the value function returns the value of a text representing a number. So, if we have a text with the value $5, we can use the value formula to get 5 as a result, so this function gives us the numerical value represented by a text.read more returns the numeric form of a text string that represents a number. In other words, it converts a number looking like the text into an actual number.

Note 2: Instead of the VALUE function, one can also use the DATEVALUE functionThe DATEVALUE function in Excel shows any given date in absolute format. This function takes an argument in the form of date text normally not represented by Excel as a date and converts it into a format that Excel can recognize as a date.read more of Excel. The latter converts a date stored as text to a serial number. This serial number is recognized as a date by Excel.

Step 2: We must select cell B1 and drag the fill handle until cell B6. The output is shown in the following image. All text values (A1:A6) have been converted to numbers (in the range B1:B6).

Ideally, the text string in Excel is left-aligned while the number string is right-aligned. However, we have centrally aligned both the ranges (A1:A6 and B1:B6).

Note: When text strings representing dates have been converted to serial values (or dates), we can use them for performing different calculations like addition, subtraction, and so on.

Step 3: To view the obtained serial numbers (in column B) as dates, apply the required format. We must select the range B1:B6, right-click and choose “Format Cells.”

In the “Number” tab, select the option “Custom.” Then, under “Type,” enter or choose the format “dd-mmm-yyyy.” The same is shown in the following image.

If the sample date looks alright, click “OK.”

Step 4: The output is shown in the following image. Hence, all text values (of column A) have been converted to valid dates (in column B) having the format dd-mmm-yyyy.

Note: To ensure that a value is recognized as a date by Excel, check for the following signs:

• The dates are right-aligned as they are numerical values.
• If two or more dates are selected, the status bar (at the bottom of the worksheet) shows the count, average, numerical count, and sum. In addition, it may display one or more options according to the Excel version.

If a value is a text string, it would be left-aligned, and the status bar will show only the count.

Often, the Excel date format needs to be changed (from text to dates) when data is downloaded (or copied and pasted) from the web. That is because, in such instances, the dates may not be displayed as numbers.

Example #5–Change the Date Format Using “Find and Replace” Box

The following image shows some text values representing dates in the range A1:A6. The days, months, and numbers have been separated with a backslash. That is because we want to perform the following tasks:

• Replace all the backslashes () with forwarding slashes (/) by using the “Find and Replace” dialog box.
• Convert text values representing dates to actual dates.

The steps to perform the given tasks are listed as follows:

Step 1: We must press the keys “Ctrl+H” together. Then, the “find and replace” dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.

Step 2: Type a backslash in the “Find what” box (). In the “Replace with” box, type a forward slash (/).

Step 3: Next, we must click “Replace All.” Excel shows a message stating the number of replacements it has made. Click “OK” to proceed. The final output is shown in the following image.

Hence, all backslashes have been replaced with forwarding slashes. With this replacement, the text values representing dates have automatically been converted to actual dates by Excel.

Since column A was aligned centrally from the beginning, this alignment is retained even after the values are converted to dates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Recommended Articles

This article has been a guide to the Date Format in Excel. We discuss changing and customizing date formats in Excel, practical examples, and a downloadable Excel template. You may also look at these useful functions in Excel: –

• Concatenate Columns in Excel
• Convert Date to Text in Excel
• Insert Date in Excel
• Concatenate Date in Excel

Introduction

Number formats control how numbers are displayed in Excel. The key benefit of number formats is that they change how a number looks without changing any data. They are a great way to save time in Excel because they perform a huge amount of formatting automatically. As a bonus, they make worksheets look more consistent and professional.

Video: What is a number format

What can you do with custom number formats?

Custom number formats can control the display of numbers, dates, times, fractions, percentages, and other numeric values. Using custom formats, you can do things like format dates to show month names only, format large numbers in millions or thousands, and display negative numbers in red.

Where can you use custom number formats?

Many areas in Excel support number formats. You can use them in tables, charts, pivot tables, formulas, and directly on the worksheet.

• Worksheet — format cells dialog
• Pivot Tables — via value field settings
• Charts — data labels and axis options
• Formulas — via the TEXT function

What is a number format?

A number format is a special code to control how a value is displayed in Excel. For example, the table below shows 7 different number formats applied to the same date, January 1, 2019:

Input	Code	Result
1-Jan-2019	yyyy	2019
1-Jan-2019	yy	19
1-Jan-2019	mmm	Jan
1-Jan-2019	mmmm	January
1-Jan-2019	d	1
1-Jan-2019	ddd	Tue
1-Jan-2019	dddd	Tuesday

The key thing to understand is that number formats change the way numeric values are displayed, but they do not change the actual values.

Where can you find number formats?

On the home tab of the ribbon, you’ll find a menu of build-in number formats. Below this menu to the right, there is a small button to access all number formats, including custom formats:

This button opens the Format Cells dialog box. You’ll find a complete list of number formats, organized by category, on the Number tab:

Note: you can open Format Cells dialog box with the keyboard shortcut Control + 1.

General is default

By default, cells start with the General format applied. The display of numbers using the General number format is somewhat «fluid». Excel will display as many decimal places as space allows, and will round decimals and use scientific number format when space is limited. The screen below shows the same values in column B and D, but D is narrower and Excel makes adjustments on the fly.

How to change number formats

You can select standard number formats (General, Number, Currency, Accounting, Short Date, Long Date, Time, Percentage, Fraction, Scientific, Text) on the home tab of the ribbon using the Number Format menu.

Note: As you enter data, Excel will sometimes change number formats automatically. For example if you enter a valid date, Excel will change to «Date» format. If you enter a percentage like 5%, Excel will change to Percentage, and so on.

Shortcuts for number formats

Excel provides a number of keyboard shortcuts for some common formats:

Format	Shortcut
General format	Ctrl Shift ~
Currency format	Ctrl Shift $
Percentage format	Ctrl Shift %
Scientific format	Ctrl Shift ^
Date format	Ctrl Shift #
Time format	Ctrl Shift @
Custom formats	Control + 1

See also: 222 Excel Shortcuts for Windows and Mac

Where to enter custom formats

At the bottom of the predefined formats, you’ll see a category called custom. The Custom category shows a list of codes you can use for custom number formats, along with an input area to enter codes manually in various combinations.

When you select a code from the list, you’ll see it appear in the Type input box. Here you can modify existing custom code, or to enter your own codes from scratch. Excel will show a small preview of the code applied to the first selected value above the input area.

Note: Custom number formats live in a workbook, not in Excel generally. If you copy a value formatted with a custom format from one workbook to another, the custom number format will be transferred into the workbook along with the value.

How to create a custom number format

To create custom number format follow this simple 4-step process:

1. Select cell(s) with values you want to format
2. Control + 1 > Numbers > Custom
3. Enter codes and watch preview area to see result
4. Press OK to save and apply 

Tip: if you want base your custom format on an existing format, first apply the base format, then click the «Custom» category and edit codes as you like.

How to edit a custom number format

You can’t really edit a custom number format per se. When you change an existing custom number format, a new format is created and will appear in the list in the Custom category. You can use the Delete button to delete custom formats you no longer need.

Warning: there is no «undo» after deleting a custom number format!

Structure and Reference

Excel custom number formats have a specific structure. Each number format can have up to four sections, separated with semi-colons as follows:

This structure can make custom number formats look overwhelmingly complex. To read a custom number format, learn to spot the semi-colons and mentally parse the code into these sections:

1. Positive values
2. Negative values
3. Zero values
4. Text values

Not all sections required

Although a number format can include up to four sections, only one section is required. By default, the first section applies to positive numbers, the second section applies to negative numbers, the third section applies to zero values, and the fourth section applies to text.

• When only one format is provided, Excel will use that format for all values.
• If you provide a number format with just two sections, the first section is used for positive numbers and zeros, and the second section is used for negative numbers.
• To skip a section, include a semi-colon in the proper location, but don’t specify a format code.

Characters that display natively

Some characters appear normally in a number format, while others require special handling. The following characters can be used without any special handling:

Character	Comment
$	Dollar
+-	Plus, minus
()	Parentheses
{}	Curly braces
<>	Less than, greater than
=	Equal
:	Colon
^	Caret
‘	Apostrophe
/	Forward slash
!	Exclamation point
&	Ampersand
~	Tilde
	Space character

Escaping characters

Some characters won’t work correctly in a custom number format without being escaped. For example, the asterisk (*), hash (#), and percent (%) characters can’t be used directly in a custom number format – they won’t appear in the result. The escape character in custom number formats is the backslash (). By placing the backslash before the character, you can use them in custom number formats:

Value	Code	Result
100	#0	#100
100	*0	*100
100	%0	%100

Placeholders

Certain characters have special meaning in custom number format codes. The following characters are key building blocks:

Character	Purpose
0	Display insignificant zeros
#	Display significant digits
?	Display aligned decimals
.	Decimal point
,	Thousands separator
*	Repeat following character
_	Add space
@	Placeholder for text

Zero (0) is used to force the display of insignificant zeros when a number has fewer digits than zeros in the format. For example, the custom format 0.00 will display zero as 0.00, 1.1 as 1.10 and .5 as 0.50.

Pound sign (#) is a placeholder for optional digits. When a number has fewer digits than # symbols in the format, nothing will be displayed. For example, the custom format #.## will display 1.15 as 1.15 and 1.1 as 1.1.

Question mark (?) is used to align digits. When a question mark occupies a place not needed in a number, a space will be added to maintain visual alignment. 

Period (.) is a placeholder for the decimal point in a number. When a period is used in a custom number format, it will always be displayed, regardless of whether the number contains decimal values.

Comma (,) is a placeholder for the thousands separators in the number being displayed.  It can be used to define the behavior of digits in relation to the thousands or millions digits.

Asterisk (*) is used to repeat characters. The character immediately following an asterisk will be repeated to fill remaining space in a cell.

Underscore (_) is used to add space in a number format. The character immediately following an underscore character controls how much space to add. A common use of the underscore character is to add space to align positive and negative values when a number format is adding parentheses to negative numbers only. For example, the number format «0_);(0)» is adding a bit of space to the right of positive numbers so that they stay aligned with negative numbers, which are enclosed in parentheses.

At (@) — placeholder for text. For example, the following number format will display text values in blue:

0;0;0;[Blue]@

See below for more information about using color.

Automatic rounding

It’s important to understand that Excel will perform «visual rounding» with all custom number formats. When a number has more digits than placeholders on the right side of the decimal point, the number is rounded to the number of placeholders. When a number has more digits than placeholders on the left side of the decimal point, extra digits are displayed. This is a visual effect only; actual values are not modified.

Number formats for TEXT

To display both text along with numbers, enclose the text in double quotes («»).  You can use this  approach to append or prepend text strings in a custom number format, as shown in the table below.

Value	Code	Result
10	General» units»	10 units
10	0.0″ units»	10.0 units
5.5	0.0″ feet»	5.5 feet
30000	0″ feet»	30000 feet
95.2	«Score: «0.0	Score: 95.2
1-Jun	«Date: «mmmm d	Date: June 1

Number formats for DATES

Dates in Excel are just numbers, so you can use custom number formats to change the way they display. Excel has many specific codes you can use to display components of a date in different ways. The screen below shows how Excel displays the date in D5, September 3, 2018, with a variety of custom number formats:

Number formats for TIME

Times in Excel are fractional parts of a day. For example, 12:00 PM is 0.5, and 6:00 PM is 0.75. You can use the following codes in custom time formats to display components of a time in different ways. The screen below shows how Excel displays the time in D5, 9:35:07 AM, with a variety of custom number formats:

Note: m and mm can’t be used alone in a custom number format since they conflict with the month number code in date format codes.

Number formats for ELAPSED TIME

Elapsed time is a special case and needs special handling. By using square brackets, Excel provides a special way to display elapsed hours, minutes, and seconds. The following screen shows how Excel displays elapsed time based on the value in D5, which represents 1.25 days:

Number formats for COLORS

Excel provides basic support for colors in custom number formats. The following 8 colors can be specified by name in a number format: [black] [white] [red][green] [blue] [yellow] [magenta] [cyan]. Color names must appear in brackets.

Colors by index

In addition to color names, it’s also possible to specify colors by an index number (Color1,Color2,Color3, etc.) The examples below are using the custom number format: [ColorX]0″▲▼», where X is a number between 1-56:

[Color1]0"▲▼" // black
[Color2]0"▲▼" // white
[Color3]0"▲▼" // red
[Color4]0"▲▼" // green
etc.

The triangle symbols have been added only to make the colors easier to see. The first image shows all 56 colors on a standard white background. The second image shows the same colors on a gray background. Note the first 8 colors shown correspond to the named color list above.

Apply number formats in a formula

Although most number formats are applied directly to cells in a worksheet, you can also apply number formats inside a formula with the TEXT function. For example, with a valid date in A1, the following formula will display the month name only:

=TEXT(A1,"mmmm")

The result of the TEXT function is always text, so you are free to concatenate the result of TEXT to other strings:

="The contract expires in "&TEXT(A1,"mmmm")

The screen below shows the number formats in column C being applied to numbers in column B using the TEXT function:

One quirk of the TEXT function relates to double quotes («») that are part of certain custom number formats. Because the format_text is entered as a text string, Excel won’t allow you to enter the formula without removing the quotes or adding more quotes. For example, to display a large number in thousands, you can use a custom number format like this:

0, "k"

Notice k appears in quotes («k»). To apply the same format with the TEXT function, you can use simply:

=TEXT(A1,"0, k")

Notice the k is not surrounded by quotes. Alternately, you can add extra double quotes as below, which returns the same result:

=TEXT(A1,"0,""K""")

This behavior only occurs when you are hardcoding a format inside TEXT. If you are applying a format entered elsewhere on the worksheet (as in cells C6 and C9 in the worksheet above) you can use a standard number format.

Measurements

You can use a custom number format to display numbers with an inches mark («) or a feet mark (‘). In the screen below, the number formats used for inches and feet are:

0.00 ' // feet
0.00 " // inches

These results are simplistic, and can’t be combined in a single number format. You can however use a formula to display feet together with inches.

Conditionals

Custom number formats also up to two conditions, which are written in square brackets like [>100] or [<=100]. When you use conditionals in custom number formats, you override the standard [positive];[negative];[zero];[text] structure. For example, to display values below 100 in red, you can use:

[Red][<100]0;0

To display values greater than or equal to 100 in blue, you can extend the format like this:

[Red][<100]0;[Blue][>=100]0

To apply more than two conditions, or to change other cell attributes, like fill color, etc. you’ll need to switch to Conditional Formatting, which can apply formatting with much more power and flexibility using formulas.

Plural text labels

You can use conditionals to add an «s» to labels greater than zero with a custom format like this:

[=1]0″ day»;0″ days»

Telephone numbers

Custom number formats can also be used for telephone numbers, as shown in the screen below:

Notice the third and fourth examples use a conditional format to check for numbers that contain an area code. If you have data that contains phone numbers with hard-coded punctuation (parentheses, hyphens, etc.) you will need to clean the telephone numbers first so that they only contain numbers.

Hide all content

You can actually use a custom number format to hide all content in a cell. The code is simply three semi-colons and nothing else ;;;

To reveal the content again, you can use the keyboard shortcut Control + Shift + ~, which applies the General format.

Other resources

• Developer Bryan Braun built a nice interactive tool for building custom number formats