5 Ways Excel Returns Day

Introduction to Excel’s Date and Time Functions

Excel is a powerful tool used for various calculations, including date and time manipulations. One of the common tasks in Excel is to calculate the day of the week for a given date. Excel provides several functions to achieve this, including the TEXT, WEEKDAY, and DATEDIF functions. In this article, we will explore five ways Excel can return the day of the week for a given date.

Method 1: Using the TEXT Function

The TEXT function in Excel is used to format a value as text. To return the day of the week, we can use the following formula:

=TEXT(A1,“dddd”)

Where A1 is the cell containing the date. The “dddd” format code returns the full day name (e.g., Monday, Tuesday, etc.).

Method 2: Using the WEEKDAY Function

The WEEKDAY function returns a number representing the day of the week for a given date. The syntax for this function is:

=WEEKDAY(A1)

Where A1 is the cell containing the date. This function returns a number between 1 (Sunday) and 7 (Saturday). To return the day name, we can use the CHOOSE function in combination with the WEEKDAY function:

=CHOOSE(WEEKDAY(A1),“Sunday”,“Monday”,“Tuesday”,“Wednesday”,“Thursday”,“Friday”,“Saturday”)

Method 3: Using the DATEDIF Function

The DATEDIF function calculates the difference between two dates in a specified interval. To return the day of the week, we can use the following formula:

=DATEDIF(A1-1,A1,“d”)

Where A1 is the cell containing the date. However, this method requires additional steps to return the day name.

Method 4: Using VBA User-Defined Function

We can also create a user-defined function (UDF) in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to return the day of the week. Here is an example of a VBA UDF:

Function DayOfWeek(dateValue As Date) As String
    DayOfWeek = Format(dateValue, “dddd”)
End Function

To use this UDF, we need to open the Visual Basic Editor, create a new module, and paste the code. Then, we can use the UDF in our Excel worksheet:

=DayOfWeek(A1)

Method 5: Using Power Query

Power Query is a powerful data manipulation tool in Excel. We can use Power Query to return the day of the week for a given date. Here are the steps:

• Go to the Data tab and click on From Table/Range
• Select the table or range containing the dates
• Click on Add Column and then select Custom Column
• Enter the following formula:

  =Date.ToText([DateColumn],“dddd”)

• Click OK to add the new column

📝 Note: The above methods assume that the date is in a valid format recognized by Excel. If the date is in a text format, we may need to convert it to a date format using the DATEVALUE function.

To summarize, Excel provides several ways to return the day of the week for a given date, including using the TEXT, WEEKDAY, and DATEDIF functions, creating a VBA UDF, and using Power Query. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the choice of method depends on the specific requirements and preferences.