Spreadsheet Practice

How to find the 3rd Wednesday of a month in Excel

Formula (Excel and Google Sheets)

=LET(first,EOMONTH(A2,-1)+1,first+MOD($E$1-WEEKDAY(first),7)+7*($E$2-1))

Find the first matching weekday, then add 7 days per extra week: =LET(first,EOMONTH(A2,-1)+1,first+MOD($E$1-WEEKDAY(first),7)+7*($E$2-1)).

Result on the example
one result per row in B2, filled down to B7
Works in
Excel 2021, 2024 and Microsoft 365
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

The formula finds the first matching weekday in the month, as in the first-Monday formula, then adds 7 days for each later occurrence. With 4 (Wednesday) in E1 and 3 in E2, it returns the third Wednesday: January 21, 2026.

=LET(first,EOMONTH(A2,-1)+1,first+MOD($E$1-WEEKDAY(first),7)+7*($E$2-1))

Result46043

  1. first46023

    A name defined in LET, or a named range.

  2. A2Jan 2026

    The value in A2.

  3. -1-1

    Makes the value negative.

  4. EOMONTH(A2,-1)12/31/2025 (46022)

    EOMONTH: Last day of the month, months away.

    • start_dateA2Jan 2026
    • months-1-1
  5. EOMONTH(A2,-1)+146023

    The + operator adds.

  6. $E$14

    The value in E1.

  7. WEEKDAY(first)5

    WEEKDAY: Day of the week as a number; Sunday = 1 by default.

    • serial_numberfirst46023
  8. $E$1-WEEKDAY(first)-1

    The - operator subtracts.

  9. MOD($E$1-WEEKDAY(first),7)6

    MOD: Remainder after division.

    • number$E$1-WEEKDAY(first)-1
    • divisor7
  10. first+MOD($E$1-WEEKDAY(first),7)46029

    The + operator adds.

  11. $E$23

    The value in E2.

  12. $E$2-12

    The - operator subtracts.

  13. 7*($E$2-114

    The * operator multiplies.

  14. first+MOD($E$1-WEEKDAY(first),7)+7*($E$2-146043

    The + operator adds.

  15. LET(first,EOMONTH(A2,-1)+1,first+MOD($E$1-WEEKDAY(first),7)+7*($E$2-1))46043

    LET: Names values inside a formula.

    • name1first46023
    • value1EOMONTH(A2,-1)+146023
    • name2, value2first+MOD($E$1-WEEKDAY(first),7)+7*($E$2-146043

In Google Sheets

The same formula works in Google Sheets: =LET(first,EOMONTH(A2,-1)+1,first+MOD($E$1-WEEKDAY(first),7)+7*($E$2-1)). 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.

FormulaResultWhen to use it
=EOMONTH(A2,-1)+1+MOD($E$1-WEEKDAY(EOMONTH(A2,-1)+1),7)+7*($E$2-1)1/21/2026, 2/18/2026, 3/18/2026…The same without LET, for older versions.

Common mistakes

  • Not every month has a 5th occurrence; the formula then returns a date in the next month. Check with MONTH(result)=MONTH(A2).
  • WEEKDAY numbers start at Sunday = 1, so Wednesday is 4, not 3.

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.

Find the 3rd Wednesday of a month

In B2, return the occurrence in E2 of the weekday in E1 for the month in A2 (the 3rd Wednesday), and fill down to B7.

Questions

How do I calculate Thanksgiving, the fourth Thursday of November?

=LET(first,DATE(2026,11,1),first+MOD(5-WEEKDAY(first),7)+21) returns November 26, 2026.

How do I get the last occurrence instead?

Work back from the month end: =EOMONTH(A2,0)-MOD(WEEKDAY(EOMONTH(A2,0))-$E$1,7).

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.