Excel formatting in a mixed cell

Question

Hello,I'm trying to set up a cell to display "on mm/dd/yy", where the date is pulled from another cell via an index and match function.&nbsp;The cell formula is&nbsp; ="on "&amp;INDEX(...)). However, instead of showing "on 7/22/20", the result returns the numeric equivalent of the date - for example, "on 44034".&nbsp; I can't figure out how to get it to display the date format within this mixed cell content.&nbsp; Can anyone help?Sincerely,JQuinn

mathetes · Answer

JQuinn&nbsp;&nbsp;Assuming your date is in cell A1, use this ="on "&amp;TEXT(A1,"m/d/y")&nbsp;Because what you're doing is creating a text entry, you need to turn the date into a text and format it. The TEXT function takes care of that, and one of the arguments is the way you want it displayed. The same sort of thing would apply if you were dealing, say, with financial numbers and wanted it to be in dollars and cents.

jquinn · Answer

mathetes&nbsp;&nbsp;Thank you.&nbsp; That works.&nbsp;&nbsp;I just need to figure out how to merge it with the Index-Match formula, so I don;t need to point to an alternate cell for the date.Thanks, again,JQuinn

mathetes · Answer

JQuinn&nbsp;&nbsp;So long as your spreadsheet doesn't contain private or confidential info, you can post it here so we can work with the actual situation rather than having to reconstruct it from your description.&nbsp;I think that "all you'd need to do" is nest the INDEX/MATCH function within that TEXT function, assuming that what the INDEX/MATCH is doing is getting the date in question. It's hard to be certain without seeing more directly what you're working with.

sergeibaklan · Answer

JQuinn&nbsp;
Alternatively you may apply to the cell into which INDEX/MATCH returns the date custom format like

Plus is that it still will be a date, not text, with which you may work - compare with our dates, whatever.

jquinn · Answer

Thank you, Sergei.That would be an elegant solution.&nbsp; However, I can't seem to apply that format to the cell and get the intended response. It still displays as 'on 44034'.&nbsp; (See capture image.)Do you know if that formatting is restricted to certain versions of Excel? I'm using Excel 2016.JQuinn&nbsp;&nbsp;SergeiBaklan&nbsp;

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Excel formatting in a mixed cell

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