Working with dates in Excel might sometimes seem tricky, mainly because Excel handles dates in its own unique way, which is different from our usual understanding. Once you get to know how Excel works with dates, you'll find it much easier to use them for your calculations and in your reports. This article will guide you on how to manage and use the day information from dates in Excel, making it a straightforward and useful skill for your data analysis and reporting needs.
Syntax
The syntax of this formula is a simple and efficient way to add a specific number of days to a date in Excel. Here's a breakdown of how it works:
- date: This represents the starting date to which you want to add days. It can be a cell reference containing a date, a date entered directly into the formula, or a date returned by another function.
- days: This is the number of days you want to add to the starting date. It can be a positive number to add days or a negative number to subtract days.
For example, if you have a date in cell A1 and you want to add 10 days to that date, you would use the formula `=A1 + 10`. This formula takes the date in A1 and adds 10 days to it, returning the new date.
Steps to Find the Excel Date Data
To apply the formula for adding days to a date in Excel, follow these steps:
- Select the Cell for the Formula: Click on the cell where you want the new date to appear after adding days to an existing date.
- Enter the Starting Date Reference: Type in the range reference that contains the initial date value. For example, if your starting date is in cell B3, you would type `B3`.
- Add the Plus Sign: Type a `+` (plus sign) after the range reference. This indicates that you are adding something to the date in B3.
- Enter the Days Count Reference: Type in the range reference that includes the number of days you want to add to the starting date. For instance, if the number of days you want to add is in cell C3, you would type `C3`.
- Complete the Formula: Your formula should now look like `=B3 + C3`. This formula adds the number of days specified in C3 to the date in B3.
- Press Enter: Hit the Enter key to execute the formula. The cell will display the new date, which is the original date from B3 plus the number of days from C3.
Remember, this formula assumes that B3 contains a valid date and C3 contains a number representing days. Excel will automatically update the result if any of these cells' values change.
How Excel Manages Dates?
In Excel, dates are fundamentally interpreted as numbers, a concept rooted in Excel's internal dating system that originates from January 1st, 1900. This system marks January 1st, 1900, as day number 1, and each day after that is sequentially numbered. Therefore, January 1st, 2018, is denoted as 43,101, marking it as 43,101 days since the base date.
This numerical representation simplifies adding days to a date in Excel. Essentially, it's a straightforward arithmetic operation. To add days, you just increment the date's numeric value by the desired number of days. For example, adding 10 days to January 1st, 2018, which is 43,101, is calculated as 43,101 + 10. This results in 43,111, corresponding to the new date. This efficient blend of date handling and arithmetic operations in Excel enhances its usability for date calculations.
The formula `=B3+C3` in Excel follows this principle. Here, B3 would be a cell containing a date (in Excel's date-number format), and C3 contains the number of days you want to add (or subtract).
Adding a negative number, akin to subtraction in regular mathematics, moves the date backwards. For instance, considering 11/11/2022, which equals 44876 in Excel's date system, adding -30 (subtracting 30 days) shifts it back to 10/12/2022, or 44846 in Excel's format.
The formula `="11/11/2022"+(-30)` is designed to demonstrate this concept, although it's crucial to ensure Excel recognizes "11/11/2022" as a date and not as text for the formula to work correctly. For consistent results, it's advisable to use dates in Excel's recognized format or use the DATE function for these operations.
