You can do this with Text to Columns.

Select the single column of numbers, then in the 3rd step choose as follows, then press Finish.

which leaves you with proper Excel dates:

I'm in the UK with default DMY so the above is showing as such, your dates will show as in your locale, maybe like this:

You can do this with Text to Columns.

Select the single column of numbers, then in the 3rd step choose as follows, then press Finish.

which leaves you with proper Excel dates:

I'm in the UK with default DMY so the above is showing as such, your dates will show as in your locale, maybe like this:

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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Microsoft_Excel
Microsoft Excel - Wikipedia
6 days ago - Microsoft no longer releases Office or Excel in distinctive versions. Instead, features are introduced automatically over time. The version number remains 16.0. Thereafter only the approximate dates when features appear can now be given. New features include: Dynamic Arrays. These are essentially Array Formulas but they "Spill" automatically into neighboring cells and do not need the ctrl-shift-enter to create them. Further, dynamic arrays are the default format, with new "@" and "#" operators to provide compatibility with previous versions.
Discussions

java dateformat - Change date format of cell in excel from dd.mm.yyyy to yyy/mm/dd ( excel version 2013 ) - Stack Overflow
Failed when the date format is not in one recognized by excel. When excel can recognize the string as a valid format it automatically converts it to a date for math and functions. 2016-06-03T09:57:09.237Z+00:00 ... @Robin Does your formula still work when you change the dashes (-) to decimals (.)? More on stackoverflow.com
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How do you convert date format to another?
u/InstaMastery - Your post was submitted successfully. Once your problem is solved, reply to the answer(s) saying Solution Verified to close the thread. Follow the submission rules -- particularly 1 and 2. To fix the body, click edit. To fix your title, delete and re-post. Include your Excel version and all other relevant information Failing to follow these steps may result in your post being removed without warning. I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns. More on reddit.com
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December 14, 2021
Formula to format "MM/DD/YYYY" and "M/D/YYYY" strings as date in Excel - Stack Overflow
I have strings in two formats in the Excel column "MM/DD/YYYY" (04/06/2020 etc.) and "M/D/YYYY" (3/18/2021 etc.). I would like to change them to date. The below formula works on... More on stackoverflow.com
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How do I format dates to show MM/DD/YYYY?
Go to custom and type in MM/DD/YYYY and it'll work for you More on reddit.com
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June 7, 2024
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Fpcourses
fpcourses.com › Excel › En › How.to.change.date.format.php
Excel 2016 Course - Excel How to change the date format ?
Click on the Number tab, and then either Date or Time from the Category list. Choose the format you want from the Type list. If you can't find the format you want, or if you want the value to be displayed in another language, then choose another ...
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8

OPTION 1)

Assuming that you source date that is in the number format dd.mm.yyyy stored as an excel date serial and only formatted to display as dd.mm.yyyy then the best fix is to select the cells you want to modify. Go to your home tab, and select the number format and change it to General. See Green circles in image below. IF the format is already set to general, or when you switch it to general your numbers do not change, then it is most likely that your date in dd.mm.yyyy format is actually text. and will needed to be converted as per OPTION 2 below. However, if the number does change when you set it to general, select the arrow in the bottom right corner of the number area (see red circle).

After clicking the arrow in the red circle you should see a screen similar to the one below:

Select Custom from the category list on the left, and then in the Type bar enter the format you want which is yyyy/mm/dd.

OPTION 2

=date(Right(A1,4),mid(A1,4,2),left(A1,2))

This assumes your original date is a string stored in A1, and converts the string to a date serial in the form excel stores dates in.1 You can copy this formula down beside you dates. You can then apply cell formatting for the date as described above, or use the build short or long date if that style matches your needs.

1Excel counts the number of days since January 0 1900 for the windows version of excel. I believe mac is 1904 or 1905.

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6

The problem is that your date is a text string, so changing the cell number format won't have any effect.

One method of convert the dates in place to "real" dates is to use the Text to Columns wizard.

  • Select your date(s).

  • Select the Text to Columns option on the Data Tools Tab of the Data Ribbon:

  • At Step 1, select "Fixed Width" then "Next"

  • Step 2 is irrelevant

  • At Step 3, for the date column, select DMY as the format. You can also select the "Destination" if you want the results written elsewhere.

  • Then "Finish".

That's it. Your dates will be converted in place

Since your dates are now "real" Excel dates, you can use the Cell ► Number Format dialog to change the format to whatever you want.

Find elsewhere
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/excel › how do you convert date format to another?
r/excel on Reddit: How do you convert date format to another?
December 14, 2021 -

I have thousands of dates in a sheet that is formatted yyyymmdd Example: 20220827 for August 27, 2022.

I’d like to convert it from yyyymmdd to m/d/yyyy (or mm/dd/yyyy) with the slashes. How do I re-format this for all cells?

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Microsoft Support
support.microsoft.com › en-us › office › format-a-date-the-way-you-want-in-excel-8e10019e-d5d8-47a1-ba95-db95123d273e
Format a date the way you want in Excel - Microsoft Support
To enter a date that will update to the current date each time you reopen a worksheet or recalculate a formula, type =TODAY() in an empty cell, and then press ENTER. When you enter some text into a cell such as "2/2", Excel assumes that this is a date and formats it according to the default ...
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1 of 5
3

Formula in B2 is

=DATEVALUE(TEXTJOIN("-",TRUE,CHOOSECOLS(TEXTSPLIT(A1,"/"),3,1,2)))

Working from the inside out:

TEXTSPLIT to split the string into month, day, year

CHOOSECOLS to reorder the strings into year, month, day

TEXTJOIN to join those strings with a - that will be recognized by the DATEVALUE formula

DATEVALUE to turn the strings into a date, and it won't matter whether they are single or double digits for month and date.

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2
=DATE(
    INDEX(FILTERXML("<t><s>" & SUBSTITUTE(A1, "/", "</s><s>") & "</s></t>", "//s"), 3),
    INDEX(FILTERXML("<t><s>" & SUBSTITUTE(A1, "/", "</s><s>") & "</s></t>", "//s"), 1),
    INDEX(FILTERXML("<t><s>" & SUBSTITUTE(A1, "/", "</s><s>") & "</s></t>", "//s"), 2)
)

Will convert text strings in an MDY type format with a / separator into a proper date. You can then format it as you wish.

If you might have other delimiters, nest SUBSTITUTE functions to take cared of that.

For example, if you might have either a / or a ., you would modify the formula to:

=DATE(
    INDEX(
        FILTERXML(
            "<t><s>" & SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A1, ".", "/"), "/", "</s><s>") & "</s></t>",
            "//s"
        ),
        3
    ),
    INDEX(
        FILTERXML(
            "<t><s>" & SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A1, ".", "/"), "/", "</s><s>") & "</s></t>",
            "//s"
        ),
        1
    ),
    INDEX(
        FILTERXML(
            "<t><s>" & SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A1, ".", "/"), "/", "</s><s>") & "</s></t>",
            "//s"
        ),
        2
    )
)

Algorithm:

  • Create an XML from the date, replacing the delimiter with the node identifier
  • Since we know there will only be three segments, and they are in the order MDY, we can feed those results into the DATE function to create our "real date"
  • You can then format the date however you wish

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Ablebits
ablebits.com › ablebits blog › excel › date › how to change excel date format and create custom formatting
How to change Excel date format and create custom formatting
October 10, 2023 - Read more details here: How to convert number to text in Excel - 4 quick ways. ... Through cell custom formatting, how to add (A) to a date to indicate that this date is actual like 05-Jan-24 (A) with out impacting the cell if it's needed in another formula. ... Hi! You can use a custom date format that will not affect the value in the cell. You can find the examples and detailed instructions here: How to change Excel date format and create custom formatting.
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Microsoft Excel
excel.cloud.microsoft › create › en › calendar-maker
Free calendar maker online with customizable templates | Microsoft Excel
Click the cell you want to edit, then select Home and choose the short date or long date in the number group. This will insert a drop-down calendar into the cell. Excel is a great option for making a calendar online since you can start with pre-built templates and make use of other functions in Excel for advanced customization, like conditional formatting and recurring event formulas.
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DataCamp
datacamp.com › tutorial › how-to-change-date-format-in-excel
How to Change Date Format in Excel: What You Need to Know | DataCamp
July 28, 2025 - While Excel doesn’t support these directly through custom date codes, you can combine formulas with custom formats to get the result. ... To show the quarter: use a formula like ="Q"&INT((MONTH(A1)-1)/3)+1. This will display the quarter number of the year. If you want to write as Quarter 1, change the formula to ="Quarter "&INT((MONTH(A2)-1)/3)+1
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JustAnswer
justanswer.com › computer › u1htu-excel-change-text-date-to-number-format.html
Change Date Format in Excel: Expert Guide & Solutions
To change a date format in Excel, select the cells with dates, right-click, and choose 'Format Cells.' Under the 'Number' tab, select 'Date' and pick your preferred format. For custom formats, use the 'Custom' category and enter format codes ...
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Savant Labs
savantlabs.io › home › how to change date format in excel in a few simple steps
How To Change Date Format in Excel?
August 6, 2025 - This happens when Excel doesn’t recognize the input as a date format. To resolve this, ensure your data is entered correctly and convert it using the DATE function if necessary. Another issue is misaligned regional settings affecting date interpretations. For instance, entering “03/04/2023” might be read as March 4th in some regions and April 3rd in others. Always double check your regional settings via the Control Panel or Excel preferences. You may also encounter problems with formulas that involve dates.
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Virginia Tax
tax.virginia.gov › retail-sales-and-use-tax
Retail Sales and Use Tax | Virginia Tax
You can download sales tax rates and locality codes for each city or county in an Excel format.
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MrExcel
mrexcel.com › forums › question forums › excel questions
Returning a date format in a formula as date format (currently showing as text) | MrExcel Message Board
February 20, 2021 - You need to use the TEXT function in the formula to preserve the date in the correct format. ... Glad we could help & thanks for the feedback. ... Click to expand... You can't, so I'd suggest Jason's post as he was the first. ... You can't, so I'd suggest Jason's post as he was the first. Click to expand...
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Alteryx
alteryx.com › home › how to change date format in excel
How to Change Date Format in Excel | Alteryx
August 12, 2025 - Change the date system if negative numbers appear as dates. Sometimes Excel will format any negative numbers as a date because of the hyphens. To fix this, select the cells, open the options menu, and select “Advanced.” On that menu, select “Use 1904 date system.” · Use functions to work with today’s date. If you want a cell to always display the current date, use the formula =TODAY() and press ENTER.
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Canva
canva.com › home › sheets
Canva Sheets: Free Visual Spreadsheets | Canva
... It’s never been easier to supercharge your sheets. In the function toolbar, type “=” to insert a formula, then click on Magic Formulas. Describe what you want — for example, “give the number of days from the date in the cell” ...