Forum Discussion
How to get a dropdown list of numbers, not dates?
I need to insert a dropdown list into an Excel cell with a set of values exactly like this:
2025-04-01 10:00:00
2025-04-01 10:30:00
2025-04-01 11:00:00
2025-04-01 11:30:00
How do I stop Excel from converting these values to dates?
I have already set the cell as text, but I keep getting only a list of dates like this:
01/04/2025 10:00
01/04/2025 10:30
...
When you paste the value in cells its automatic formatting changes it to numbers and we need to explicitly store it as text.
There are two way to deal with this issue:
Type an apostrophe (') at the beginning of each entry if you have limited values.
'2025-04-01 10:00 '2025-04-01 10:30this store the value as text
Formula version which is more effective for larger dataset, add helper column and use the function TEXT() to convert these values into text and reference dropdown list to the helper column.
=TEXT(A2,"yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss")
Solution with TEXT()If this resolves your query don't forget Mark as Solution.
4 Replies
Just format the area where you want these date/time stamps as text BEFORE you paste them. Then Excel will see them as texts and the dropdown will work as you wish. No need for adding an apostrophe or the TEXT function.
Works the same on Mac and PC.
When you paste the value in cells its automatic formatting changes it to numbers and we need to explicitly store it as text.
There are two way to deal with this issue:
Type an apostrophe (') at the beginning of each entry if you have limited values.
'2025-04-01 10:00 '2025-04-01 10:30this store the value as text
Formula version which is more effective for larger dataset, add helper column and use the function TEXT() to convert these values into text and reference dropdown list to the helper column.
=TEXT(A2,"yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss")
Solution with TEXT()If this resolves your query don't forget Mark as Solution.
Type an apostrophe (') at the beginning of each entry if you have limited values.
Type an apostrophe (') at the beginning of each entry if you have limited values.
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