Excel convert from date to text

Watch video – Convert Date to Text in Excel

Date and Time in Excel are stored as numbers. This enables a user to use these dates and time in calculations. For example, you can add a specific number of days or hours to a given date.

However, sometimes you may want these dates to behave like text. In such cases, you need to know how to convert the date to text.

Below is an example where dates are combined with text. You can see that the dates don’t retain their format and show up as numbers in the combined text.

In such situations, it’s required to convert a date into text.

Convert Date to Text in Excel

In this tutorial, you’ll learn three ways to convert the date to text in Excel:

• Using the Text Function
• Using the Text to Column feature
• Using the Copy-Paste method

Convert Date to Text using Text Function

TEXT function is best used when you want to display a value in a specific format. In this case, it would be to display the date (which is a number) in the date format.

Let’s first see how the text function works.

Here is the syntax:

=TEXT(value, format_text)

It takes two arguments:

• value –  the number that you want to convert into text. This can be a number, a cell reference that contains a number, or a formula result that returns a number.
• format_text – the format in which you want to display the number. The format needs to be specified within double quotes.

Using the Text function requires a basic understanding of the formats that you can use in it.

In the case of dates, there are four parts to the format:

• day format
• month format
• year format
• separator

Here are the formats you can use for each part:

• Day Format:
  • d – it shows the day number without a leading zero. So 2 will be shown as 2 and 12 will be shown as 12.
  • dd – it shows the day number with a leading zero. So 2 will be shown as 02, and 12 will be shown as 12
  • ddd – it shows the day name as a three letter abbreviation of the day. For example, if the day is a Monday, it will show Mon.
  • dddd – it shows the full name of the day. For example, if it’s Monday, it will be shown as Monday.
• Month Format:
  • m – it shows the month number without a leading zero. So 2 will be shown as 2 and 12 will be shown as 12.
  • mm – it shows the month number with a leading zero. So 2 will be shown as 02, and 12 will be shown as 12
  • mmm – it shows the month name as a three letter abbreviation of the day. For example, if the month is August, it will show Aug.
  • mmmm – it shows the full name of the month. For example, if the month is August, it will show August.
• Year Format:
  • yy – it shows the two digit year number. For example, if it is 2016, it will show 16.
  • yyyy – it shows the four digit year number. For example, if it is 2016, it will show 2016.
• Separator:
  • / (forward slash): A forward slash can be used to separate the day, month, and year part of a date. For example, if you specify “dd/mmm/yyyy” as the format, it would return a date with the following format: 31/12/2016.
  • – (dash): A dash can be used to separate the day, month, and year part of a date. For example, if you specify “dd-mmm-yyyy” as the format, it would return a date with the following format: 31-12-2016.
  • Space and comma: You can also combine space and comma to create a format such as “dd mmm, yyyy”. This would show the date in the following format: 31 Mar, 2016.

Let’s see a few examples of how to use the TEXT function to convert date to text in Excel.

Example 1: Converting a Specified Date to Text

Let’s again take the example of the date of joining:

Here’s the formula that will give you the right result:

=A2&"'s joining date is "&TEXT(B2,"dd-mm-yyyy")

Note that instead of using the cell reference that has the date, we have used the TEXT function to convert it into text using the specified format.

Below are some variations of different formats that you can use:

You can experiment with other formats as well and create your own combinations.

Also read: How to Convert Text to Date in Excel (8 Easy Ways)

Example 2: Converting Current Date to Text

To convert the current date into text, you can use the TODAY function along with the TEXT function.

Here is a formula that will do it:

="Today is "&TEXT(TODAY(),"dd/mm/yyyy")

This could be useful in dashboards/reports, where as soon as the file is opened (or any changes are made), the date refreshes to show the current date.

Convert Date to Text using Text to Column

If you’re not a fan of Excel formulas, there is another cool way to quickly convert date to text in Excel – the Text to Column feature.

Suppose you have a dataset as shown below and you want to convert these dates into text format:

Here are the steps to do this:

• Select all the cells that contain dates that you want to convert to text.
• Go to Data –> Data Tools –> Text to Column.
• In the Text to Column Wizard, make the following selections:

This would instantly convert the dates into text format.

Note: There is a difference in the format of the dates in the two columns. While the original format had dd mmm, yyyy format, the result is dd-mm-yyyy. Remember that the Text to Column feature will always convert dates to the default short date format (which is dd-mm-yyyy as per my systems regional settings. It could be different for yours).

Also read: How to Convert Serial Numbers to Dates in Excel (2 Easy Ways)

If you want the date in other formats, use the formula method, or the copy-paste method shown below.

Convert Date to Text using the Copy-Paste Method

This is the fastest way to convert date to text.

Here are the steps:

You May Also Like the Following Excel Tutorials:

• Convert Text to Numbers in Excel – A Step By Step Tutorial.
• How to Convert Formulas to Values in Excel.
• How to Quickly Transpose Data in Excel.
• [Quick Tip] How to Split Cells in Excel.
• Excel Timesheet Calculator Template.
• How to Insert Date and Timestamp in Excel.
• Excel Calendar Template.
• How to Remove Time from Date in Excel
• Convert Time to Decimal Number in Excel (Hours, Minutes, Seconds)
• How To Convert Date To Serial Number In Excel?

Dates and times in Excel are stored as serial numbers and converted to human readable values on the fly using number formats. When you enter a date in Excel, you can apply a number format to display that date as you like. In a similar way, the TEXT function allows you to convert a date or time into text in a preferred format. For example, if the date January 9, 2000 is entered in cell A1, you can use TEXT to convert this date into the following text strings as follows:

=TEXT(A1,"mmm")            // "Jan"
=TEXT(A1,"dd/mm/yyyy")     // "09/01/2012"
=TEXT(A1,"dd-mmm-yy")      // "09-Jan-12"

Date format codes

Assuming a date of January 9, 2012, here is a more complete set of formatting codes for date, along with sample output.

You can use the TEXT function to convert dates or any numeric value to a fixed text format. You can explore available formats by navigating to Format Cells (Win: Ctrl + 1, Mac: Cmd + 1) and selecting various format categories in the list to the left. Also see: Excel custom number formats.