How to get the day of the week from a date in Excel
Formula (Excel and Google Sheets)
=TEXT(A2,"dddd")Use =TEXT(A2,"dddd") for the full day name, or "ddd" for Mon, Tue.
- Result on the example
- one result per row in
B2, filled down toB7 - Works in
- Every current version
- Google Sheets
- Same formula
See it work
The formula is already in B2, filled down to B7. Change any input and the result updates, or edit the formula to experiment.
How it works
TEXT formats a date with a pattern and returns text: "dddd" is the full day name and "ddd" the three-letter one. The date stays unchanged in column A, so you can still sort and calculate with it.
=TEXT(A2,"dddd")Result"Monday"
A23/2/2026The value in A2.
TEXT(A2,"dddd")"Monday"TEXT: Formats a number or date as text, e.g. "mmm" or "$#,##0".- value
A23/2/2026 - format_text
"dddd"
- value
In Google Sheets
The same formula works in Google Sheets: =TEXT(A2,"dddd"). We ran it in Google Sheets mode on the same data and it returns the same results.
Other ways to do it
Each one was run on the same example sheet.
| Formula | Result | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| =TEXT(A2,"ddd") | Mon, Sat, Wed…Different result | Three-letter names: Mon, Sat. Short day names. |
| =WEEKDAY(A2,2) | 1, 6, 3…Different result | A number from 1 (Monday) to 7 (Sunday), better for sorting and math. Day number instead of the name. |
| =CHOOSE(WEEKDAY(A2),"Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday","Saturday") | Monday, Saturday, Wednesday… | The same names without TEXT; swap in your own labels if you need them. |
Common mistakes
- The result is text, so sorting puts Friday before Monday. Sort by the date or by WEEKDAY instead.
- TEXT day names follow the spreadsheet's language: a French locale returns "lundi".
- To keep the date and only show the day name, apply the custom number format "dddd" instead of using a formula.
Try it yourself
Same data, empty answer cell. Your formula is graded instantly, then re-checked on changed data, so a typed-in number won't pass.
Get the day of the week from a date
B2, show the full name of the day of the week for each order date, and fill down to B7.Questions
How do I show the day and the date together?
=TEXT(A2,"dddd, mmmm d") gives "Monday, March 2".
How do I count orders by day of the week?
Compare the names: =SUMPRODUCT(--(TEXT(A2:A7,"ddd")="Sat")).
Checked by running on 2026-10-30: every formula and result on this page was calculated by the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine, in both Excel and Google Sheets modes.