Excel provides three different functions to extract a day, month, and year from date. The following is an explanation of each function to extract each value.

Extract Day from Date in Excel

The formula

=DAY(A2)

The result

If you want to extract the day from the date, you can use the DAY function. The DAY function requires only one argument, fill it with valid excel date value.

The result, there are four days value and one error #VALUE!. An error occurred because 2/29/2006 is not a valid Excel date value. Why? Because 2006 is not a leap year, so there is no February 29th.

The DAY function result is a number between 1 and 31.

Extract Month from Date in Excel

The formula

=MONTH(A2)

The result

To extract month from the date you need the MONTH function. Like the DAY function, the MONTH function has only one argument, filled with a valid Excel date value.

There is a #VALUE error. The error appearance is the same place as the #VALUE error in DAY function result. The cause of the error is the same; the date value in cell A5 is not a valid Excel date value. This error will still appear in all excel functions related to the date.

The MONTH function result is a number between 1 and 12.

Extract Year from Date in Excel

The formula

=YEAR(A2)

The result

To extract the year from date, Excel provides the YEAR function. There is an argument that must be filled with a valid Excel date value.

The results of the DAY and MONTH functions are a number with a narrow range. Instead, the YEAR function is a wide range of numbers between 1900 and 9999.

For years less than 1900 or more than 9999, it will be considered an invalid excel date value. If used by an Excel function (related to the date function) returns a #VALUE! Error.

Related Function

The post How to Extract Day, Month and Year from Date in Excel appeared first on ExcelCSE.com.

Excel stores date value in integer number and time value in decimal number.

1 day = 24 hours

1 hour = 1/24 = 0.041666667

1 minute = 1/(24*60) = 1/1440 = 0.000694444

1 second = 1/(24*60*60) = 1/86400 = 0.0000115740740740741

To add seconds, minutes, or hours to a time, you can use the Excel functions or using the data above in addition formula.

How to add SECONDS to time in Excel?

No Excel function solution

The formula

=A2+(B2/86400)

The result

Add the time value with the number 1/86400 and multiply by the number of seconds to be added.

Excel function solution

The formula

=TIME(HOUR(A2),MINUTE(A2),SECOND(A2)+B2)

The result

There are four excel functions, the HOUR function to extract the hour values, the MINUTE function to extract the minute values, and the SECOND function to extract the second values.

If you want to add n seconds to time then add n in the SECOND function result, then all three values (hour, minute and second) are reassembled using the TIME function to get the new time value.

The results are the same as no excel function solution.

How to add MINUTES to time in Excel?

Simple formula solution

The formula

=A2+(B2/1440)

The result

Excel function solution

The formula

=TIME(HOUR(A2),MINUTE(A2)+B2,SECOND(A2))

The result

Like adding seconds to time, but the added minutes placed in the MINUTE function result.

How to add HOURS to time in Excel?

Simple formula solution

The formula

=A2+(B2/24)

The result

The result is the ##### sign for a time that passes midnight when subtracted. For a time that passes midnight when added Excel will show the correct result, even though it has increased by 1 day.

For the subtraction formula if it passes midnight return a negative number. Excel cannot show the result because the correct result should be 1 minus the negative number.

For this reason, formula correction is needed, if the formula result is negative then add with number 1; otherwise, no correction needed.

The modified formula

=IF(A2+(B2/24)<0,1+(A2+(B2/24)),A2+(B2/24))

The result

No more ##### signs

=MOD(A2+(B2/24),1)

Excel function solution

The Formula

=TIME(HOUR(A2)+B2,MINUTE(A2),SECOND(A2))

The result

The result is a #NUM! Error, for time value pass the midnight when subtracted.

The solution is the same as the previous formula; you should check which formula returns a negative number (passes the midnight when subtracted). If there is a negative number, you should add correction by adding 24; otherwise, no correction needed.

The modified formula

=TIME(IF(HOUR(A2)+B2<0,24+HOUR(A2)+B2,HOUR(A2)+B2),MINUTE(A2),SECOND(A2))

The result

How to add HOURS, MINUTES, SECONDS to time in Excel?

What is the formula for adding hours, minutes and seconds to a time? Can you use a simple formula or must use an excel function?

Simple formula solution

The formula

=A2+(B2/24)+(C2/1440)+(D2/86400)

The result

The ##### sign appears for negative time value. For this reason, you need to modify the formula to eliminate the errors.

The modified formula

=A2+(B2/24)+(C2/1440)+(D2/86400)+1

The result

The difference with the previous formula is the addition of +1. Why +1 solve the problem?

The problems only appear for negative time value; the solution is to add +1. Whereas +1 for positive time value keep showing the correct result, although the date changes (increases by 1).

The data above does not include the date values; then you can use +1 for positive or negative time value. The result is a simpler formula.

Excel function solution

The formula

=TIME(HOUR(A2)+B2, MINUTE(A2)+C2, SECOND(A2)+D2)

The result

#NUM! Error appears for negative time value.

The modified formula

=TIME(HOUR(A2)+B2+24, MINUTE(A2)+C2, SECOND(A2)+D2)

The result

No errors found

Related Function

The post How to Add Seconds, Minutes and Hours to a Time in Excel appeared first on ExcelCSE.com.

How to add DAYS to a date in Excel

Excel stores date value in integer number, to find out n days after a date, add the date and number of days.

The Result

The formula in cell B2 adds a date in cell A2 with number 20. The result, 20 days after May 16, 2019, is June 5, 2019.

There are many ways to get a date value, for the first formula the date value is inserted in a cell, the second formula uses the DATE function then added to the number 20. The result is the same as the first formula.

The third formula uses the TODAY function, this function returning a different date depending on what date it is today. Incidentally, today is May 16, 2019 add number 20 the result is the same as the two previous formulas.

How to add WEEKS to a date in Excel

To find out n weeks after a date, use the addition and multiplication formula. The multiplication formula used to convert weeks into days by multiplying by 7. The addition formula used to add the results of the multiplication formula with a date. The result is n weeks after a date.

The result

1 week after May 16, 2019, is May 23, 2019, and 4 weeks after May 16, 2019, is June 13, 2019.

You can use negative numbers to find n weeks before a date. The result of the formula in cell C3 shows that May 2, 2019, is 2 weeks before May 16, 2019.

How to add MONTHS to a date in Excel

How to add months to a date is different by adding days/weeks to a date.

The first step to do is to extract the year, month, and day of date by using the YEAR, MONTH, and DAY functions. To add n months after a date, add the n value to the MONTH function result, then arrange them all with the DATE function to find out the date after n months.

The result

1 month and 3 months after May 16, 2019, are June 16, 2019, and August 16, 2019, while 2 months and 5 months before May 16, 2019, are March 16, 2019, and December 16, 2019.

You got the same date even though several months have different days.

How to add YEARS to a date in Excel

To get n years after a date is like to get n months after a date. You must extract the date value using the YEAR, MONTH, and DAY functions.

Add the YEAR function result by to the desired n year value, then arrange them all with the DATE function.

The result

You got the same date and month, the different only in year value.

How to add YEARS, MONTHS, DAYS to a date in Excel

What date is 1 year 4 months 17 days after May 16, 2019?

The first step is to extract the date value using the YEAR, MONTH, and DAY functions.

The second step, add number 1 to the YEAR function result, add number 4 to the MONTH function result and add number 17 to the DAY function result.

The third step arranges all in the DATE function.

The formula

=DATE(YEAR(A2)+B2,MONTH(A2)+C2,DAY(A2)+D2)

The result

1 year 4 months 17 days after May 16, 2019, is Oct 3, 2020.

**

What date are 2 years 10 months 5 days before May 16, 2019?

The formula

=DATE(YEAR(A2)+B2,MONTH(A2)+C2,DAY(A2)+D2)

The result

The formula is the same as the previous formula. Use negative numbers to find out the date before a date.

2 years 10 months 5 days before May 16, 2019, is July 11, 2016.

Related Function

The post How to Add Days, Weeks, Months and Years to a Date in Excel appeared first on ExcelCSE.com.

How many hours between two times?

To get hours between two times, use the subtraction formula.

A result is a decimal number (You might get a different result if you have a different format cell). The numbers are in a day unit, to get the numbers in hour multiply the results by 24.

The formula

=(B2-A2)*24

The result

If the result is less than 1, then the difference between two times is less than 1 hour.

How many minutes between two times?

It’s like looking for hours between two times. To get minutes between the two times, use the subtraction formula, but multiply the result by 1440. Where did the number 1440 come from? The number comes from the multiplication of numbers 24 and 60.

The formula

=(B2-A2)*1440

The result

How many seconds between two times?

To get seconds between two times, use the subtraction formula and multiply the result by 86400.

The formula

=(B2-A2)*86400

The result

All results are integer number because seconds are the smallest units in time.

How many hours, minutes and seconds between two times?

The three formulas above only return numbers in one unit, hours only, minutes only or seconds only. How to get the complete difference in hours, minutes and seconds?

Solution 1: Subtraction formula and format cell

Subtraction formula is the easiest solution, requires only one subtraction formula. The result will be a decimal number like the first picture above. To get the difference in details, do a format cell with the “h:mm:ss” format.

The result

Solution 2: HOUR, MINUTE and SECOND Function

The result of solution 1, all the differences are in one column. If you want the difference in hours to be in its column as well as the difference in minutes and seconds, the solution is using HOUR, MINUTE and SECOND function.

The formula for hours column

=HOUR(B2-A2)

The formula for minutes column

=MINUTE(B2-A2)

The formula for seconds column

=SECOND(B2-A2)

The result

How many days, hours, minutes and seconds between two times?

What if the difference in time is more than one day, how to calculate it? Use the subtraction formula.

The formula

=B2-A2

The result

The number in front of the decimal separator is the difference in days, while the number behind the decimal separator is the difference in hours, minutes and seconds.

For more informative, you can separate the difference in days, hours, minutes and seconds in each column. You need the QUOTIENT and MOD function to separate integer numbers and decimal numbers.

The integer number is the difference in days, and the decimal number is the difference in hours, minutes and seconds. You need the HOUR, MINUTE and SECOND functions to extract the details.

The formula for days column

=QUOTIENT(B2-A2,1)

The formula for hours column

=HOUR(MOD(B2-A2,1))

The formula for minutes column

=MINUTE(MOD(B2-A2,1))

The formula for seconds column

=SECOND(MOD(B2-A2,1))

The result

Related Function

The post How to Calculate Time Difference in Excel appeared first on ExcelCSE.com.

Calculate Number of Days Between Two Dates

Excel has a function that calculates the number of days between two dates, the DATEDIF function.

The Formula

=DATEDIF(A2,B2,"d")

You got the number of days between two dates, but there is one problem, cell C4 returns an error. Error #NUM! happens because the end date is earlier than the start date.

To fix the #NUM! Error, the solution is to use the subtraction formula. Excel stores date values as an integer number, to find out the number of days between two dates use the subtraction formula.

The Formula

=B2-A2

Look at cell C4, the DATEDIF function returns a #NUM error, but with subtraction formula, there is no error but a negative number.

Calculate Number of Weeks Between Two Dates

To calculate the number of weeks between two dates divide the number of days between two dates by number 7. The result is the number of weeks between two dates.

The Formula

=(B2-A2)/7

A result is a decimal number, a number of weeks between October 29, 2018, and January 5, 2019, is 9.714286.

Is it possible to get a full week difference and shows the remaining days (that are not up to 1 week)? Of course, Excel can do this, thanks to the QUOTIENT and MOD function.

The Formula for weeks column

=QUOTIENT(B2-A2,7)

The Formula for days column

=MOD(B2-A2,7)

Between October 29, 2018, and January 5, 2019, there are nine weeks and five days.

Calculate Number of Months Between Two Dates

To calculate the number of months between two dates, you must use the DATEDIF function. You cannot use the division formula that divides the number of days between two dates by 30. Why? Because in a month could be 28, 29, 30 or 31 days.

The Formula

=DATEDIF(A2,B2,"m")

You got a #NUM! error, it means the DATEDIF function unable to do a calculation if the end date is earlier than the start date.

The solution is to change the start date and the end date position if the end date is earlier than the start date. You need the IF function to do this trick.

The Formula

=IF(B2<A2,-1*DATEDIF(B2,A2,"m"),DATEDIF(A2,B2,"m"))

No more #NUM errors and cell C4 can display a negative number :).

The DATEDIF function result is a complete difference. If there is less than 1-month days difference, excel will ignore it.

How to calculate the remaining days that are not up to 1 month? still using the DATEDIF function but the unit argument is “md” (calculating the day difference by ignoring the difference in months).

The formula for days column

=IF(B2<A2,-1*DATEDIF(B2,A2,"md"),DATEDIF(A2,B2,"md"))

Calculate Number of Years Between Two Dates

How to calculate number of years, months and days between two dates?

The Formula for years column

=IF(B2<A2,-1*DATEDIF(B2,A2,"y"),DATEDIF(A2,B2,"y"))

The Formula for months column

=IF(B2<A2,-1*DATEDIF(B2,A2,"ym"),DATEDIF(A2,B2,"ym"))

The Formula for days column

=IF(B2<A2,-1*DATEDIF(B2,A2,"md"),DATEDIF(A2,B2,"md"))

Related Function

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What is Flash Fill Excel

Flash Fill automatically fills your data when Excel detects a pattern in your initial data entry. No need to create or copy any excel formula; everything happened magically.

You can use Flash Fill for various things, extracting or combining name, extracting text, change number format, and many other things. Read the “How to Use Flash Fill in Excel” section for more detail case study and explanation.

Flash Fill is only available in Excel 2013 and later.

How to Enable Flash Fill in Excel

Steps to enable the flash fill menu

1. Click File – Options
2. Click Advance in the left pane
3. Ensure that the Automatically Flash Fill box is checked.

4. Click OK
5. Close and restart Excel

Start Flash Fill Manually

If you have ensured that the Flash Fill menu is active but still not working, you can activate it manually by using a shortcut CTRL+E.

You can activate the Flash Fill Excel menu from the ribbon menu too. Click Data – Flash Fill or Click Home – Fill – Flash Fill.

How to Use Flash Fill in Excel

Below is an example of the Flash Fill menu usage in several cases.

Combining First, Middle and Last Name

You can combine first, middle and last name easily using Flash Fill menu.

Type the full name in cell D2 for the first name. Type the full name in cell D3 for the second name, only a few letters after you type the second name, all full names appear for all names, press ENTER.

Creating an Email Address

You can create an email address without any formula at all.

Type the correct email address based on first, last and company name for the first data. A few letters after typing the second e-mail address, all e-mail addresses for all names appear and press ENTER.

You got an email address easily.

Extracting First and Last Name

Extracting first and last names from a name is easy.

Changing a Text Format

You want to remove the country code and make three groups of numbers; each group consists of 4 digits.

Everything is done with no formula.

Getting a Number from an Alphanumeric Value

You can take all the numbers in column A with no formula, type the first data pattern; then Excel will take all the numbers in column A.

Extracting Day, Month and Year

You can even extract the day, month and year easily, no formulas, using only Flash Fill shortcut CTRL+E.

Creating an Acronym

Want to try creating an acronym using an excel formula? I doubt you can finish it: p. Flash Fill intelligently ignore “of”, “is” and “and” word.

Changing a Case Letter

Start ignoring the LOWER, UPPER and PROPER functions

Related Articles

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What is Paste Special

Paste special is a paste but you can choose the result type.

As we all know, if you copy an excel formula and place somewhere, the result is a formula too. The value could be different from the original value depending on many things.

By using paste special, you can determine whether the result is a formula or a value, you can also determine whether copying the cell format or the cell width.

There are many options; please read the “How to Use Paste Special in Excel” section for detailed explanation.

Paste Special Shortcut

The shortcut for paste special is

CTRL+ALT+V

A dialog appears as shown below.

There are many options you can use. How to use each option read the “How to Use Paste Special in Excel” section

Difference between Paste and Paste Special

Next is the difference between paste and paste special if you copy a number or a formula.

For more a detailed explanation about the difference between paste and paste special, read the “How to Use Paste Special in Excel” section.

How to Paste Special in Excel

Paste Special Values

For example, you have a numeric value in range A1:A5. What will you get if you COPY range A1:A5 and PASTE/PASTE SPECIAL in range C1:C5?

If you use PASTE (CTRL+V) then you get the same number, the same cell format, the same number format but not the column width, the column width does not adjust to the original column width.

If you use PASTE SPECIAL VALUES (CTRL+ALT+V, ALT+V), you get only the same number. Cell format, number format and column width will be the same as the destination cell.

Paste Special Formula

An Excel formula is in range C1:C5, what are the results if you COPY the formula and do PASTE/PASTE SPECIAL in range G1:G5?

If you do a PASTE (CTRL+V), you get the same formula (could be not the same number), the same format cell and the same number format.

If you do a PASTE SPECIAL FORMULA (CTRL+ALT+V, ALT+F), you get only the same formula. Cell format and number format adjusted to the destination cell.

Why the numbers in range G1:G5 is different?

Because you COPY the formula, not the number, to get the number instead of the formula, use PASTE SPECIAL VALUES (CTRL+ALT+V, ALT+V).

The numbers are the same as range C1: C5.

Paste Special Format

If you want to copy the format, either cell format or number format use PASTE SPECIAL FORMAT (CTRL+ALT+V, ALT+F).

Paste Special Add

If you want to add a number with a certain number without using a formula, use PASTE SPECIAL ADD (CTRL+ALT+V, ALT+D)

The result is as shown below.

Paste Special Subtract

The result

Paste Special Divide

The result

Paste Special Multiply

The result

Paste Special Transpose

If you want to change the data orientation in a range from either vertical to horizontal or vice versa, use PASTE SPECIAL TRANSPOSE (CTRL+ALT+V, ALT+E).

There are numbers in the range A1:D1 (horizontal). If you want to copy the numbers and put it in range A2:A6 (vertical) then PASTE SPECIAL TRANSPOSE is the best solution.

The result

Paste Special Skip Blanks

You can use the SKIP BLANKS option if you copy a range with a blank value, so the blank value does not overwrite the existing data in the desired destination.

Range A1:A10 has eight numbers and two empty cells, vice versa range C1:C10 has only 2 number, and the remaining is empty cells. Two numbers in range C1:C10 has the same row position with the empty cells in range A1:A10.

If you COPY range A1:A10 and do a PASTE in range C1:C10, the result is the same as range A1:A10. If you use PASTE SPECIAL SKIP BLANKS, then the empty cell in the range A1:A10 will not overwrite the existing data in range C1:C10.

You get all the numbers in the range A1:A10 and range C1:C10. The result is as shown below.

Related Articles

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What is the Excel TEXTJOIN Function?

The excel TEXTJOIN function is the best function to concatenate strings in Excel, has an option to add word separator and can concatenate multiple cells or a range easily.

TEXTJOIN Syntax

TEXTJOIN(delimiter, ignore_empty, text1, [text2], …)

delimiter, required, a separator between each text.

ignore_empty, required, TRUE to ignore empty cell and FALSE to include empty cell.

text1, required, text to be joined, you can use a text, a cell or even a range.

text2, optional, additional text values to be joined.

How to Use TEXTJOIN Function in Excel

The following is an example of TEXTJOIN function usage and the results.

TEXTJOIN Function #1

=TEXTJOIN("",FALSE,A2:C2)

It’s easy to concatenate strings in a range using the TEXTJOIN function. The result is redgreenblue.

TEXTJOIN Function #2

=TEXTJOIN(" ",FALSE,A3:C3)

You can even easily to concatenate with a space. The result is alfa beta charlie.

TEXTJOIN Function #3, TEXTJOIN Function #4

=TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,A4:C4)

=TEXTJOIN("",FALSE,A5:C5)

If you use empty text in delimiter argument, the ignore_empty argument has no affect in result, TRUE/FALSE the TEXTJOIN function result is the same.

TEXTJOIN Function #5, TEXTJOIN Function #6

=TEXTJOIN(",",TRUE,A6:C6)

=TEXTJOIN(",",FALSE,A7:C7)

You can see a different result is you fill delimiter argument with a text, it could be a space or another text. If the ignore_empty argument is TRUE then empty cell not included, if FALSE you will see the extra delimiter between text.

TEXTJOIN Function #7

=TEXTJOIN(", ",TRUE,A8:C10)

You can even easily combine text in a range consisting of several rows and columns.

The result is sun, mon, tue, wed, thu, fri, sat.

TEXTJOIN Example

Another Text Function

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What is the Excel CONCAT Function?

The excel CONCAT function combines all data; it could be a text, a number or a date. The result remains a text.

The advantage of the CONCAT function compared to the CONCATENATE function is allowing you to use the range address in the text argument. No need to type every cell address, just the range address.

CONCAT Syntax

CONCAT(text1, [text2],…)

text1, required, the first value to combine, you can use a range reference containing a text, a number or a date.

text2, optional, additional value to combine, handle up to 255 values and no more than 8,192 characters in a result.

How to Use CONCAT Function in Excel

The image below is an example of the CONCAT function usage and the results.

CONCAT Function #1

=CONCAT(A2:C2)

The result is redgreenblue. You can use the range address and make a simpler formula.

CONCAT Function #2

=CONCAT(A3," ",B3," ",C3)

The CONCAT function is unable to add a word separator. You have to type one by one if you want. In this condition, the CONCAT function is no different from the CONCATENATE function.

CONCAT Function #3

=CONCAT(A4:C4)

You can combine a text lotus and a number 123. The result remains a text, lotus123.

CONCAT Function #4

=CONCAT(A5:C5)

You can combine several numbers too (not add up) using the range address, the result is an alphanumeric 123456.

CONCAT Function #5

=CONCAT(A6:C6)

Why does a date 8/17/1945 when a combined change to 16666?

Excel stores date values in an integer number. The date 8/17/1945 is the result of an integer number formatted using mm/dd/yyyy date format, when combined using the CONCAT function the original value appears.

CONCAT Example

Another Text Function

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What is the Excel CONCATENATE Function?

The excel CONCATENATE function combines text or numbers into a text.

CONCATENATE Syntax

CONCATENATE(text1, [text2], ...)

text1, required, the first data to combine, it could be text, number or cell reference

text2, optional, additional data to combine, handle up to 255 data and up to 8,192 characters in a result.

How to Use CONCATENATE Function in Excel

Below is an example of the CONCATENATE function usage and the results.

CONCATENATE Function #1

=CONCATENATE(A2,B2,C2)

The result is redgreenblue; no spaces are separating them. You must enter the space as a separator in the text argument.

CONCATENATE Function #2

=CONCATENATE(A3:C3)

You can’t use a range address in the CONCATENATE function arguments, only individual cell addresses are allowed.

CONCATENATE Function #3

=CONCATENATE(A4," ",C4)

You can combine a text and a number. The result is Lotus 123, a text.

By the way, do any of you know what Lotus 123 is?

CONCATENATE Function #4

=CONCATENATE(A5,B5,C5)

You can combine numbers (not adding). The result is 123456, but a text.

CONCATENATE Function #5

=CONCATENATE(A6," ",B6," ",C6)

Why did 8/17/1945 change to the number 16666?

Excel stores date values in an integer number. If a date is combined with a text, then the integer number appears, to maintain the mm/dd/yyyy format, use the TEXT function.

Other Alternative CONCATENATE Function

Use ampersand & sign

The result is the same as the CONCATENATE function; there is no separator between words. If you want to have a separator, you must type one by one for each word.

Use the CONCAT function, a better alternative than CONCATENATE function

One advantage of the CONCAT function compared to the CONCATENATE function, you can use the range address in the text argument.

If there is text in cells to join, use CONCAT function and the range address, but CONCAT function still has a limitation, you can’t add a separator between two words.

Use TEXTJOIN function, the best choice for joining the text

The TEXTJOIN function is the best choice for combining the text. You can use the range address, and you can also add separators between words without having to input them repeatedly.

CONCATENATE Example

Another Text Function

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