Excel date functions
Excel stores every date as a number: a count of days in which January 1, 1900 is day 1. That is why you can subtract one date from another, add 30 to get a due date, or sort a column chronologically. Date functions build dates from parts, pull parts back out, and move by months or working days so you don't have to count calendars by hand.
- Functions
- 13
- With a graded exercise
- All 13
- Start with
DATE
Which one should I use?
| If you need to… | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Build a real date from a year, month and day | DATE | Handles month and day overflow for you, so DATE(2026,13,1) becomes January 1, 2027. |
| Add or subtract whole months | EDATE | Keeps the day of the month and clamps to the month's last day when it has to. |
| Get the last day of a month | EOMONTH | The standard way to find month-end for billing, reporting and due dates. |
| Count working days between two dates | NETWORKDAYS | Skips weekends and an optional list of holidays. |
| Find a deadline a number of working days away | WORKDAY | Moves forward or back by business days, skipping weekends and holidays. |
| Calculate age or tenure in whole years | DATEDIF | Counts complete years, months or days between two dates. |
Try DATE live
The most useful date function, on a sample sheet you can edit. Change a value and watch the results update.
F2=DATE(A2,B2,C2) 7/15/2026 Builds July 15, 2026 from three numbersF3=DATE(A3,B3,C3) 2/1/2027 Month 14 rolls over into February of the next yearF4=DATE(YEAR(E2),MONTH(E2),1) 9/1/2026 First day of the month for the order date in E2
All 13 date functions
| Function | What it does | Practice exercise |
|---|---|---|
DATE function | DATE builds a real date from a year, month and day. | Build due dates |
DATEDIF function | DATEDIF counts the complete years, months or days between two dates. | Years and months of service |
DATEVALUE function | DATEVALUE converts a date that is stored as text into a real date that Excel can sort, subtract and format. | Fix imported dates |
DAY function | DAY returns the day of the month from a date, as a number from 1 to 31. | Bill due days |
DAYS function | DAYS returns the number of days between two dates. | Days to pay |
EDATE function | EDATE returns the date a given number of months before or after a start date, keeping the same day of the month. | Contract end dates |
EOMONTH function | EOMONTH returns the last day of the month a number of months before or after a date. | Bill at month-end |
MONTH function | MONTH returns the month of a date as a number from 1 to 12. | Year and month |
NETWORKDAYS function | NETWORKDAYS counts the working days between two dates, Monday to Friday, including both the start and end date. | Business days |
TODAY function | TODAY returns the current date, with no time attached, and updates every time the workbook recalculates. | Days until due |
WEEKDAY function | WEEKDAY returns the day of the week for a date as a number. | Number the shift days |
WORKDAY function | WORKDAY returns the date a given number of working days before or after a start date, skipping weekends and any holidays you list. | Ship dates |
YEAR function | YEAR returns the four-digit year from a date. | Year and month |
Learn them in order
These functions are taught step by step in the Dates track. Each lesson ends with graded exercises on real-looking data.
- DATE, YEAR, MONTH & TEXT8 min · Pro
- EDATE, EOMONTH & NETWORKDAYS9 min · Pro