The DATE function in Excel
DATE turns three numbers (year, month, day) into a real date that Excel can calculate with. It's how you combine dates that arrive in separate columns, and the safest way to write a date inside a formula.
Behind the scenes a date is a number: the count of days since the start of 1900. 2026-11-04 is 46330. That's why you can add days to a date or subtract two dates.
Syntax
=DATE(year, month, day)
| Argument | What it means |
|---|---|
| year | The year, with four digits, e.g. 2026. |
| month | The month, 1–12. Larger or smaller numbers roll over into the next or previous year. |
| day | The day of the month. Numbers beyond the month's end roll over into the next month. |
Examples
1. Combine year, month and day columns
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Year | Month | Day | Date |
| 2 | 2026 | 11 | 4 | 2026-11-04 |
The result is the number 46330, shown as 2026-11-04 because the cell has a date format.
2. First day of the month
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Invoice date | 2026-03-18 |
| 2 | Month start | 2026-03-01 |
Keep the year and month of B1, set the day to 1: 2026-03-01.
3. Days until a fixed date
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Today's order | 2026-03-18 |
| 2 | Days to year end | 288 |
Dates are numbers, so subtracting two of them gives the days in between. DATE writes the fixed date safely inside the formula.
Common mistakes
Typing dates as text inside formulas, e.g.
=B1>"03/18/2026". Whether that's read as March 18 or not depends on the computer's settings.Fix: Use DATE in formulas:
=B1>DATE(2026,3,18)works on every computer.A number like 46330 appears instead of a date. The value is right; the cell just has no date format.
Fix: Format the cell as a date (Home › Number format › Short Date).
Frequently asked questions
How do I get today's date?
=TODAY() returns the current date and updates every day. =NOW() adds the time.
How do I add months to a date?
Use EDATE: =EDATE(B1,3) is three months later, and it handles month ends correctly.
Related functions
- MONTHMONTH, YEAR and DAY return one part of a date as a number.
- EOMONTHEOMONTH returns the last day of a month; EDATE the same day a number of months later or earlier.
- NETWORKDAYSNETWORKDAYS counts the working days between two dates, Monday to Friday, optionally skipping holidays.
- TEXTTEXT turns a number or date into text in the format you choose, such as 2 decimals, 12,500 or 2026-03-18.