How to use date functions to process time formats

The date function is a very practical tool in Excel, which can help us easily process various time formats. Whether you need to convert a date to another format, calculate the time between dates, or sort dates for archiving, date functions can help you solve your problem.

In this article, we will introduce some commonly used date functions and explain in detail how to use these functions to process time formats.

1. Basic knowledge of date functions

In Excel, dates and times are stored in numeric form. Each date corresponds to a number in Excel. Excel uses January 1, 1900 as the base date, which corresponds to the number 1. The time format in Excel is also displayed in decimal form, and the time of day is converted to a decimal. For example, 3 pm is converted to 0.125.

Commonly used formats of date functions include: year, month, day, hour, minute, second, etc. Among them, the most commonly used date function may be the TODAY() function, which is used to obtain the current date. Its usage is very simple, just enter "=TODAY()" in the cell.

2. How to convert date format in Excel

Excel provides several different date formats, you can choose according to your needs. Here are several commonly used date formats and how to implement them:

1. Convert the date format from "Year/Month/Day" to "Day/Month/Year"

Open the cell used to store the date, right-click, select the "Format Cell" option, open the "Number" tab, and select the date format. Select "31/12/2001" (day/month/year) in the date format drop-down menu. Click the "OK" button to complete the date format conversion.

2. Convert the date format from "Year/Month/Day" to "Month/Day/Year"

Same as the above steps, select in the date format drop-down menu "12/31/2001" (month/day/year), click the "OK" button to complete the conversion.

3. Convert the date format from "Year/Month/Day (or Month/Day/Year)" to "Month-Year"

Right-click the cell and select "Format Cells", open the "Number" tab, and add "mm-yyyy" or "m-yyyy" to "Custom Classification".

4. Convert the date format from "Year/Month/Day (or Month/Day/Year)" to "Day of the Week"

Right-click the cell and select "Format Cells", open the "Number" tab, select the "Custom" format, and enter "dddd" or "ddd" in the "Type" text box.

3. How to calculate the date interval in Excel

Excel provides some date functions that can easily calculate the number of days, months, years, etc. between two dates. Among them, the DATEDIF() function is very commonly used, it can calculate the number of days, months or years between two dates.

For example, to apply the date function to a colleague's career, we can use the following formula to calculate how many years she has worked:

=DATEDIF(C3,EOMONTH(TODAY(), -1),"y")

Among them, C3 represents the colleague's entry date, EOMONTH(TODAY(),-1) represents the last day of the last month, and y represents the calculation in years.

4. How to sort dates

When you sort dates as data columns, Excel will sort them as standard text values ​​instead of date values. This may cause the dates to be sorted out of order. To sort by date, you can use one of the following methods:

1. Format the date to a date format in Excel, and then sort it.
2. Convert dates to serial numbers in Excel, then use the numbers as the basis for sorting.

For example, to convert a date to a number you can use the DATEVALUE() function. For example, DATEVALUE("31/12/2001") returns the number "37305", where "37305" is the number in the Excel date sequence that corresponds to "December 31, 2001."

=DATEVALUE("31/12/2002")

5. Summary

Date functions are very practical tools in Excel. They can help us easily process various A time format issue. We can convert date formats, calculate date intervals, and sort dates as needed. Mastering these techniques can improve our work efficiency and greatly reduce our worries when manipulating time format data in Excel.

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