Forum Discussion
How to enter time in a cell using special character
How can I use a character such as T to enter time into a cell? It works in healthcare and in our patient tracking system we can type T and it will enter the date or N to enter the time.
Could we back up just a little before jumping into a solution? Is that "patient tracking system" that you speak of in Excel or is it a separate system? If it's a separate system, are you aware that in Excel you can enter a date as a date and it is dealt with as a date? There's no need to signal to it; just type in 5/7 and hit enter and it records it as 5/7/24. Similarly with time. I can understand if you're saying--"we do it this way over there (in the patient tracking system) so want to retain the same habit here, in Excel"--but I do think it's also important to know how native Excel can process dates and times.
I also would like to know is it capable for a cell to change color once the stop time is entered.
Yes. Excel has some very smart ways to do what's called "Conditional Formatting" based on rules you define.
So while you have backed up a bit, could you explain the context in which you're asking the questions. They're good questions, but where are you in process? Are you looking to design a new Excel-based tracking system of some kind? Are you just curious? What's going on that prompts the questions?