How to Add Dates in Excel

Excel is a valuable tool for organizing and analyzing data. One of its most commonly used features is the ability to add dates. Whether you’re keeping track of deadlines, tracking sales, or creating timelines, adding dates in Excel can help you stay organized and on top of things. In this blog post, we’ll go step-by-step through the process of adding dates in Excel, including using formulas and shortcuts to save you time and effort.

Understanding Date Formats in Excel

The first step to adding dates in Excel is to understand the different formats that dates can be represented in. Excel recognizes dates in several formats, including:

• Month/Day/Year (e.g. 12/31/2021)
• Month-Day-Year (e.g. 12-31-2021)
• Day-Month-Year (e.g. 31-12-2021)
• Full Month name/Day/Year (e.g. December 31, 2021)
• Day-Month-Abbreviated Year (e.g. 31-Dec-21)

Entering Dates Manually

The simplest way to add a date in Excel is to enter it manually. To do this, click on the cell where you want to add the date, and then type the date into the cell using any of the recognized date formats. Once you hit enter, Excel will automatically recognize the date and format it accordingly.

Using Excel’s AutoFill Feature

If you need to enter a list of dates, it can be tedious to do it manually one by one. Luckily, Excel’s AutoFill feature can save you time and effort. Here’s how to use it:

1. Enter the first date into the cell, using any recognized date format.
2. Click and drag the cell handle (the small box in the bottom-right corner of the cell) down to the cells where you want to add dates. Excel will automatically fill in the remaining dates, following the pattern based on the first cell.

Using Excel’s Date Functions

If you need to perform calculations or manipulate dates, Excel’s date functions can be a powerful tool. Here are some of the most commonly used date functions in Excel:

• TODAY(): Returns the current date.
• NOW(): Returns the current date and time.
• DATE(year, month, day): Returns a date based on the year, month, and day values you specify.
• YEAR(date): Returns the year of a date.
• MONTH(date): Returns the month of a date as a number (1-12).
• DAY(date): Returns the day of a date as a number (1-31).
• WEEKDAY(date): Returns the day of the week as a number (1-7), where Sunday is 1 and Saturday is 7.

Example: Calculating the Number of Days Between Two Dates

To calculate the number of days between two dates, you can use the DATEDIF() function, which returns the difference between two dates in the specified time unit (days, months, or years). The formula is:

=DATEDIF(start_date, end_date, "D")

For example, if you want to calculate the number of days between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021, you would enter the formula like this:

=DATEDIF("1/1/2021", "12/31/2021", "D")

And Excel would return the result: 364

Adding dates in Excel doesn’t have to be complicated. Whether you’re entering dates manually, using AutoFill, or leveraging Excel’s date functions, these tips and tricks can help you stay organized and efficient in your data management tasks.

Using Conditional Formatting to Highlight Dates

Conditional formatting is a powerful tool in Excel that allows you to automatically apply formatting based on certain criteria, such as highlighting dates that fall within a certain range or that meet a specific condition.

To use conditional formatting to highlight dates, you first need to select the cells containing the dates that you want to highlight. Then, navigate to the “Home” tab, click on “Conditional Formatting” and choose “Highlight Cells Rules”. Next, select the “A Date Occurring” option and set the criteria for when you want the cells to be highlighted. Finally, select the formatting style that you want to apply to the highlighted cells and click “OK”.

Converting Text to Dates in Excel

If you have a list of dates that were entered as text, Excel’s “Text to Columns” feature can be used to convert them to dates. Here’s how:

1. Select the cells containing the dates that you want to convert.
2. Navigate to the “Data” tab and click on “Text to Columns”.
3. In the “Convert Text to Columns Wizard”, select “Delimited” and click “Next”.
4. In the next step, select the delimiter that separates the date elements (such as a slash or hyphen) and click “Next”.
5. In the final step, select “Date” as the column data format and choose the proper date format from the list of options. Click “Finish” to convert the text to dates.

Perfecting Date Formatting in Excel

If you want to customize the appearance of your dates in Excel beyond the default formats, you can use custom date formatting. Here are a few examples:

• To display the month and year as “MMM-YYYY”, use the custom format code "MMM-YYYY"
• To display dates as “Weekday, Month, Day, Year”, use the custom format code "dddd, mmmm d, yyyy"
• To display dates as “MM/DD/YY” while retaining the underlying date value, use the custom format code "MM\/DD\/YY"

To apply custom formatting to dates, select the cells containing the dates, right-click on the selection, and choose “Format Cells”. In the “Format Cells” dialog box, select “Custom” under the “Category” list and enter the custom date format code into the “Type” field.

Final Thoughts

Adding and managing dates in Excel is an essential skill for anyone who works with data on a regular basis. By understanding the different formats that dates can be represented in, leveraging Excel’s built-in date functions, and using features like conditional formatting and custom date formatting, you can better organize and analyze your data, saving yourself time and effort in the process.

FAQs

Here are some frequently asked questions about adding dates in Excel:

Can Excel recognize all date formats?

No, Excel recognizes a variety of date formats, but some formats may not be recognized. If Excel does not recognize a date as a date, it will treat it as text.

Can I use shortcuts to add dates in Excel?

Yes, there are several keyboard shortcuts you can use to add dates in Excel, such as “Ctrl + ;” to insert the current date and “Ctrl + Shift + ;” to insert the current time.

Why are my dates not formatting correctly in Excel?

If your dates are not formatting correctly, it could be because Excel is treating them as text rather than as dates. Try converting the text to dates using the “Text to Columns” tool, or make sure that the cells are formatted as dates.

Can I use Excel to calculate dates in the future or past?

Yes, Excel’s date functions can be used to calculate dates in the future or past. For example, you can use the DATE() function to add a specified number of days, months, or years to a date.

How can I highlight dates in Excel that fall within a specific range?

You can use conditional formatting to highlight dates in Excel that fall within a specific range. Select the cells containing the dates, choose “Conditional Formatting”, and set the criteria for when you want the cells to be highlighted.