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Date in spreadsheet

ResolvedVersion 2010

Maureen has attended:
Excel Advanced course

Date in spreadsheet

I have a spread sheet that has a date when information was input. However this date has now changed to numerals which Excel understands. The only way I can see the correct date is in the input tab at top of page eg Date 15/07/2014 is presented as 41835. How do I get the date back to normal?

RE: Date in spreadsheet

Hi Maureen,

Thank you for the forum question.

All dates have a numerical number. If the cell is formatted as general or number it will show the numerical number. To see it as a date the cell must be date formatted. Select the cell go to the HOME tab and in the NUMBER group select SHORTDATE from the formatting list.


Kind regards

Jens Bonde
Microsoft Office Specialist Trainer

Tel: 0207 987 3777
Best STL - https://www.stl-training.co.uk
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RE: Date in spreadsheet

Hi Jens

Thanks for the input. Unfortunately, it does not seem to want to work on my spereadsheet - I click on HOME, NUMBER and SHORTDATE but in the window it only states DATE and will not change. I have tried adding another column and starting again, but it still won't work.

Any clues ?

RE: Date in spreadsheet

Hi Maureen,

Sorry about the late answer.


Well I am not sure what is the problem, but is it possible to forward me the workbook to have a closer look at the issue.

You can forward it to:

info@stl-training.co.uk

Kind regards

Jens Bonde
Microsoft Office Specialist Trainer

Tel: 0207 987 3777
Best STL - https://www.stl-training.co.uk
98%+ recommend us

London's leader with UK wide delivery in Microsoft Office training and management training to global brands, FTSE 100, SME's and the public sector

Tue 6 Oct 2015: Automatically marked as resolved.

Excel tip:

Autofit column width – Excel (all versions)

a. Highlight the column or columns you wish to alter the width of. You do this by clicking on the grey button at the top of the column showing the column letter. Click and drag on these letters to select more than one column.
b. Double click the dividing line between the columns. This dividing line is the break between the columns on the column headers (grey buttons showing the column letter at the top of each column). When you hover your mouse over one of these dividing lines the point will change and show an arrow pulling a line in two directions. When you have this mouse pointer you should double click to get Excel to automatically set the column width to fit the contents of the column (autofit)

View all Excel hints and tips

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