I have a column with many thousands of rows. The column is meant to be date and is of the format dd/mm/yyyy
But, when I try to do formulas based on the dates, something is clearly amiss.
For example, if you try to apply autofilter on the dates, some of them are grouped as a year with the expandable boxes while others appear as their own items.
For each record I tried a formula to parse it apart.=DATE(RIGHT(A2,4),MID(A2,4,2),LEFT(A2,2))
That did not help.
I also selected the column and switched it from general to date format
I really don't know how to ask the question any clearer. I can tell you that with a date of the format 1/11/2013 when I run =year(right(A1,4)) I get 1903 instead of 2013. When I run =date(right(A1,4),mid(A1,3,2),left(A1,2)) the formula returns 2/10/3192
It's very simple why your formulas doesn't work corectly. When yor're using somehting like this: RIGHT(A2,4), your value from A2 translates to 41579 for 1/11/2013 (Excel stores all dates as integers and all times as decimal fractions. You can read more here). Next formula should work well:
=DATE(RIGHT(TEXT(A2,"dd/mm/yyyy"),4),MID(TEXT(A2,"dd/mm/yyyy"),4,2),LEFT(TEXT(A2,"dd/mm/yyyy"),2))
Btw, if you'd like to get correct format for dates, you can add formula in some empty column (but before set date format for this column):
=A2*1
and drag it down. Then copy values from this temp column and paste them using "Paste special->Values" in colunm A (where should be date format as well)
Or you can use this simple macro:
Sub test()
With Range("A2:A100")
.NumberFormat = "dd/mm/yyyy"
.Value = .Value
End With
End Sub
Related
I have a column of dates in format dd/mm/yyyy and when I use the following code:
Sub DisplayDate()
MsgBox (WorksheetFunction.Min(Range("StartDate").EntireColumn))
End Sub
the result is 4442.7 which doesn't make sense as all entries in this column are either blank or in dd/mm/yyyy format. I'm trying to display the earliest date of the entire column. "StartDate" is the heading reference for that column, but this heading is in row 5 (there are four blank rows above it) It is working when the heading is not included i.e. taking from row 6 down, but I'm not sure how to code this using the name reference. I must use the name reference, not column number reference,
Using strings, VBA is confused and try guessing what you try extracting (as date). The returned value means "28/02/1912 16:48:00", but it is a wrong guess...
Sub DisplayDate()
MsgBox WorksheetFunction.Min(Range("StartDate").EntireColumn.Resize(Range("StartDate").rows.count - 1).Offset(1))
End Sub
I have imported a CSV file with 2 long columns of dates. These dates are in the US format Aug/28/2013 and I want them to be in the standard UK dd/mm/yyyy format.
I have tried formatting the cells as US dates and then converting them to number-only formats, and various other permutations within the Date format box, but with no success.
Can anyone rid me of these awful US dates please?
Another solution without using a formula:
Select the relevant columns
Choose Data → Text to Columns…
Select “Delimited” and click Next
Untick all delimiters and click Next
Select data column format “Date: MDY” and click Finish
The dates should now be converted to UK dates.
The problem is that a US date can parsed by Excel as a UK date when the day is less than 13. When this happens Excel converts it to the localized UK serial (date) number.
So 03/19/2014 is obviously a US date of the 19th of March. However 05/03/2014 is ambiguous so Excel parses it the local date format as the 5th of March, rather than the US 3rd of May. Any formula has to check if Excel has stored the US Date as a UK date. A UK date will be stored in Excel as a number.
=IF(ISNUMBER(A2),DATE(TEXT(A2,"yyyy"),TEXT(A2,"dd"),TEXT(A2,"mm")),DATE(RIGHT(A2,4),LEFT(A2,FIND("/",A2)-1),MID(A2,FIND("/",A2)+1,2)))
(For a US date in cell A2 and PC date is dd/mm/yy).
If ISNUMBER is true, the US date looks like a UK date and Excel has serialized it as a number. So can format the date as text and back to a date again. Note day is passed to the month parameter of the first DATE function to perform the conversion.
If ISNUMBER is false, its stored as a string as Excel doesn't convert a date string with >12 months. So use string functions to split it up for the DATE function.
I'm assuming that the date you received is formatted as text and that simply formatting it as date is not changing anything. You can run the following formula on the date:
=(MID(A1,FIND("/",A1)+1,FIND("/",A1,FIND("/",A1)+1)-FIND("/",A1)-1)&"-"&LEFT(A1,FIND("/",A1)-1)&"-"&RIGHT(A1,4))*1
If you get numbers, you just need to format it as dd/mm/yyyy and it should be good.
I tried some of the other suggestions but none seemed to work for me. In my case I was importing US dates in the form M/d/yyyy hh:mm:ss. If you don't mind using some VBA in your spreadsheet then the following function did the job for me:
Public Function USDate(ds As Variant) As Variant
Dim sp() As String
Dim spt() As String
Dim spt2() As String
If ds = vbNullString Then
USDate = ""
ElseIf IsNumeric(ds) Then
' Convert numeric US dates wrongly interpreted as UK i.e. 1/7/2017 as 7th January 2017
USDate = DateSerial(Year(ds), Day(ds), Month(ds))
Else
sp = Split(ds, "/") ' split the date portion
spt = Split(sp(2), " ") ' split the time from the year
spt2 = Split(spt(1), ":") 'split the time hms
USDate = DateSerial(spt(0), sp(0), sp(1)) + TimeSerial(spt2(0), spt2(1), spt2(2))
End If
End Function
Thanks for https://stackoverflow.com/users/845584/peterx pointing out - you will need to create the function in a VBA code module to use this technique.
Simply use it in a spreadsheet formulae for example =USDate(A2)
Related to this, the below simply formula can be helpful for changing a date from
"MM/DD/YYYY"
into
"DD/MM/YYYY".
=VALUE(TEXT(B2,"mm/dd/yyyy"))
We can get best of both world with this more concise formula:
=IF(ISNUMBER(A2),VALUE(TEXT(A2,"mm/dd/yyyy")),DATE(RIGHT(A2,4),LEFT(A2,FIND("/",A2)-1),MID(A2,FIND("/",A2)+1,2)))
Can't find anything shorter.
There was one more issue for me, as somehow the raw data was supposed to be read as a number, but it did not. Hence, i updated the formula with 1 final case:
=IFERROR(IF(ISNUMBER(A2),VALUE(TEXT(A2,"mm/dd/yyyy")),DATE(RIGHT(A2,4),LEFT(A2,FIND("/",A2)-1),MID(A2,FIND("/",A2)+1,2))),DATE(RIGHT(A2,4),LEFT(A2,FIND("/",A2)-1),MID(A2,FIND("/",A2)+1,1)))
This can be tricky when the dates in mixed format eg. UK and US in the same column. I have found an effective if inelegant solution:
Step1) Select the column containing the dates to be converted;
Step2) Format, Cells, Text;
Step3) Format, Cells, Date, US;
Step4) Data, Text to column, Next, Delimited, Next, delete all delimiters, Next, select format MDY;
Step5) Format, Cells, Date, UK.
Step4 had been suggested elsewhere, but that on it's own didn't do it for me. I am hoping to combine these steps into a macro but no success this far.
I couldn't get the most common answer to work, the process that worked for me was:
For date 10/04/2018 11:49:20, right-click cell and "Format Cells", "Number" tab and select "Custom" Category and then select mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm.
Assuming that you start with a string (and not an internal excel date number that is just formatted as US format - which is an easy fix), can someone tell me why this method doesn't work?
Use the DATEVALUE / TIMEVALUE functions to convert it into an excel internal formatted date number (You might need to MID() the string in case there are extra bits before or after).
Just make sure that your regional settings match the input date format (otherwise DATEVALUE will fail and you will get a #VALUE error).
Then set the cell format to display the way you want it (Custom format e.g. "dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm:ss").
If you also want to change the timezone, you can add on (hours/24) to the internal Excel excel formatted date number.
The above look impressively complex! Why any country should settle on a non-sequential date format escapes me! Say you have a US-format date (mm/dd/yy) in cell A1. To convert this to dd/mm/yy format as in the UK, just do:
=CONCATENATE(MID(A1,4,2),"/",MID(A1,1,2),"/",MID(A1,7,2))
This certainly works in LibreOffice and I hope also in Excel.
I am trying to express the following in vba:
Format(Sheet2!R[2]C[7], "Short Date")
But I keep getting a compile error on the [2], saying: Expected: List separator or )
I'm trying to refer to that cell in that format because it is part of a larger formula to be auto-filled. Is there perhaps something that I'm missing?
so in the vba, i'll have something like:
Worksheets("Sheet1").Select
Range("A3").Select
Selection.AutoFill Destination:=Range("A3:A" & rowCount)
But cell A3 isn't filled by vba, it's put in manually in the excel doc as a function like:
=Sheet2!B3&" "&Sheet2!A3&" "&Sheet2!C3&"_"&Sheet2!D3&"_"&Sheet2!E3
My issue is that the second value in the function "&Sheet2!A3&" is actually a date and when it's written comes out like 41331 instead of a typical "dd/mm/yyyy" format. I was hoping to format this value into that human readable format and have it embedded in the function but still retain the auto-fill functionality.
Worksheets("Sheet2").Range("A1:D10") will give you a range. refer to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ff836512.aspx
The VBA can change the cell contents, but then you will lose the formula. Formatting the cell will not help in any event as it contains a string concatenated from many values that cannot be formatted as a date.
Use the Excel Text(Sheet2!A3,"dd/mm/yyyy") function shown in the comment by Sam Ward to format the original data in the formula.
I have been searching for about an hour on how to do this in Excel.
I have an Excel file that was created from an old system and I am pulling information from a SQL Server Database, I will be inputting the information back into the SQL Server Database and would like the Dates to match.
I have tried Creating a Custom Format, but I am unsure if I even did it Correctly. I found several places where they want to go the other way mm/dd/yyyy to yyyymmdd but they have not been helpful.
I am unfamiliar with using VBA in any Microsoft Products otherwise I am sure that this would be a simple Task.
I have two separate columns that need to be changed.
How do I Format the entire column from (float)yyyymmdd to a (Date)mm/dd/yyyy
You can convert the value to a date using a formula like this, next to the cell:
=DATE(LEFT(A1,4),MID(A1,5,2),RIGHT(A1,2))
Where A1 is the field you need to convert.
Alternatively, you could use this code in VBA:
Sub ConvertYYYYMMDDToDate()
Dim c As Range
For Each c In Selection.Cells
c.Value = DateSerial(Left(c.Value, 4), Mid(c.Value, 5, 2), Right(c.Value, 2))
'Following line added only to enforce the format.
c.NumberFormat = "mm/dd/yyyy"
Next
End Sub
Just highlight any cells you want fixed and run the code.
Note as RJohnson mentioned in the comments, this code will error if one of your selected cells is empty. You can add a condition on c.value to skip the update if it is blank.
Do you have ROWS of data (horizontal) as you stated or COLUMNS (vertical)?
If it's the latter you can use "Text to columns" functionality to convert a whole column "in situ" - to do that:
Select column > Data > Text to columns > Next > Next > Choose "Date" under "column data format" and "YMD" from dropdown > Finish
....otherwise you can convert with a formula by using
=TEXT(A1,"0000-00-00")+0
and format in required date format
Here is a bare bones version:
Let's say that you have a date in Cell A1 in the format you described. For example: 19760210.
Then this formula will give you the date you want:
=DATE(LEFT(A1,4),MID(A1,5,2),RIGHT(A1,2)).
On my system (Excel 2010) it works with strings or floats.
for converting dd/mm/yyyy to mm/dd/yyyy
=DATE(RIGHT(a1,4),MID(a1,4,2),LEFT(a1,2))
Found another (manual) answer which worked well for me
Select the column.
Choose Data tab
Text to Columns - opens new box
(choose Delimited), Next
(uncheck all boxes, use "none" for text qualifier), Next
use the ymd option from the Date dropdown.
Click Finish
In a cell in Excel sheet I have a Date value like:
01/01/2010 14:30:00
I want to convert that Date to Text and also want the Text to look exactly like Date. So a Date value of 01/01/2010 14:30:00 should look like 01/01/2010 14:30:00 but internally it should be Text.
How can I do that in Excel?
=TEXT(A1,"DD/MM/YYYY hh:mm:ss")
(24 hour time)
=TEXT(A1,"DD/MM/YYYY hh:mm:ss AM/PM")
(standard time)
Here is a VBA approach:
Sub change()
toText Sheets(1).Range("A1:F20")
End Sub
Sub toText(target As Range)
Dim cell As Range
For Each cell In target
cell.Value = cell.Text
cell.NumberFormat = "#"
Next cell
End Sub
If you are looking for a solution without programming, the Question should be moved to SuperUser.
Here's another option. Use Excel's built in 'Text to Columns' wizard. It's found under the Data tab in Excel 2007.
If you have one column selected, the defaults for file type and delimiters should work, then it prompts you to change the data format of the column. Choosing text forces it to text format, to make sure that it's not stored as a date.
In some contexts using a ' character beforehand will work, but if you save to CSV and load again this is impossible.
'01/01/2010 14:30:00
Couldnt get the TEXT() formula to work
Easiest solution was to copy paste into Notepad and back into Excel with the column set to Text before pasting back
Or you can do the same with a formula like this
=DAY(A2)&"/"&MONTH(A2)&"/"&YEAR(A2)& " "&HOUR(B2)&":"&MINUTE(B2)&":"&SECOND(B2)
I have no idea about the year of publication of the question; it might be old now. So, I expect my answer to be more of a reference for future similar questions after my post.
I don't know if anybody out there has already given an answer similar to the one I am about to give, which might result -I think- being the simplest, most direct and most effective: If someone has already given it, I apologize, but I haven't seen it. Here, my answer using CStr instead of TEXT:
Asuming cell A1 contains a date, and using VBA code:
Dim strDate As String
'Convert to string the value contained in A1 (a date)
strDate = CStr([A1].Value)
You can, thereafter, manipulate it as any ordinary string using string functions (MID, LEFT, RIGHT, LEN, CONCATENATE (&), etc.)
If you are not using programming then do the following
(1) select the column
(2) right click and select Format Cells
(3) Select "Custom"
(4) Just Under "Type:" type dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm:ss
In Excel 2010, marg's answer only worked for some of the data I had in my spreadsheet (it was imported). The following solution worked on all data.
Sub change()
toText Selection
End Sub
Sub toText(target As range)
Dim cell As range
Dim txt As String
For Each cell In target
txt = cell.text
cell.NumberFormat = "#"
cell.Value2 = txt
Next cell
End Sub
As Text is localized it will break when trying you try to share your files over diffrent cultures. ÅÅÅÅ-MM-DD might work perfectly in sweden, is US, Germany or israel it will turn to shit.
The reasonable solution would be that english was accepted everywhere, but it's not.
Basically DON'T EVER use text as intended to format dates.
Here is how to create the date in ISO format. TEXT is used to ensure leading
=YEAR(A1)&"-"&TEXT(MONTH(A1);"00")&"-"&TEXT(DAY(A1);"00")
If you want it backwards, sideways or whatever, just change it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ISO8601/comments/enhlp6/logic_of_the_different_date_time_systems_with/
The selected answer did not work for me as Excel was still not converting the text to date. Here is my solution.
Say that in the first column, A, you have data of the type 2016/03/25 21:20:00 but is stored as text. Then in column B write =DATEVALUE(A1) and in column C write =TIMEVALUE(A1).
Then in column D do =B1+C1 to add the numerical formats of the date and time.
Finally, copy the values from D into column E by right clicking in column E and select Paste Special -> Paste as Values.
Highlight the numerical values in column E and change the data type to date - I prefer using a custom date of the form YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.