Excel is a powerful tool, and one of its handy features is extracting the day from a date. Whether you’re scheduling, budgeting, or planning, sometimes you only need to know the day of the week. Here’s a quick overview: You’ll be using a combination of Excel’s TEXT and WEEKDAY functions to get this done. Now, let’s dive into the step-by-step tutorial.
Step by Step Tutorial on How to Get Day from Date in Excel
Before we start, it’s important to know that Excel has several functions that can help us manipulate dates. In this tutorial, we will focus on using the TEXT function to convert a date into the day.
Step 1: Select the cell where you want the day to appear.
Once you have identified the cell, click on it to ensure it’s active.
Selecting the target cell is your starting point. Make sure it’s an empty cell where you don’t mind the day of the week appearing.
Step 2: Enter the formula =TEXT(A1,”dddd”).
Replace “A1” with the cell that contains the date you want to extract the day from.
This formula tells Excel to take the date in cell A1 (or whichever cell you’re referencing) and format it as a full day name (e.g., Monday, Tuesday).
Step 3: Press Enter.
After pressing enter, the cell will display the day of the week based on the date in the referenced cell.
It’s as simple as that! Once you’ve hit Enter, the day of the week will populate in the cell where you’ve entered the formula.
After completing these steps, the cell you’ve selected will show the day of the week. For example, if the date is 7/4/2021, the cell will display ‘Sunday’.
Tips on How to Get Day from Date in Excel
- Always ensure your dates are in a format that Excel recognizes as a date, or the formula won’t work correctly.
- If you want the day to be displayed as a three-letter abbreviation (e.g., Mon, Tue), use “ddd” instead of “dddd” in the formula.
- You can drag the corner of the cell with the formula to apply it to other cells with dates.
- If your dates are in a different format, you may need to adjust the cell reference in the formula to match.
- Remember that Excel’s week starts on Sunday, so the WEEKDAY function will return 1 for Sunday, 2 for Monday, and so on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get the day as a number instead of a text?
Yes, use the WEEKDAY function to return the day of the week as a number.
What if my date is in a different format?
You may need to adjust the formula slightly, but the TEXT function should still be able to convert it to a day.
Can I use this to find the day for multiple dates at once?
Absolutely! Copy the formula down a column to apply it to a list of dates.
Why is my cell showing “######” instead of the day?
This typically means the column is not wide enough to display the content. Try expanding the column.
Can I get the day name in a language other than English?
Yes, you can set the language in Excel settings, and the TEXT function will return the day in the set language.
Summary
- Select the target cell for the day to appear.
- Enter the formula using =TEXT(reference_cell,”dddd”).
- Press Enter to display the day of the week.
Conclusion
Now that you’ve reached the end of this article, you’re equipped with the knowledge to extract the day from a date in Excel. This simple yet effective skill can streamline many tasks that involve dates. Whether for personal use or professional data analysis, knowing how to get the day from a date is a valuable Excel trick to have up your sleeve. Remember to experiment with different formats and functions to make the most of Excel’s capabilities. And of course, don’t forget to practice what you’ve learned – because, as they say, practice makes perfect! So go ahead, give it a try, and watch how this nifty little formula transforms your Excel experience.
Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read over 50 million times.
After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.
His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.