Forum Discussion
Spreadsheet data format
Do you mean that applying a different format to the cells does not change the way they look?
If so, Excel treats the values as text instead of as dates.
Try the following:
- Select a column with such values.
- On the Data tab of the ribbon, click Text to Columns.
- Select Delimited, then click Next > twice.
- Select Date, then select DMY from the drop-down list.
- Click Finish.
Applying a date format should now work, hopefully.
Excel has two 'universal' date formats, Short Date and Long Date. They are marked with an asterisk * in the Format Cells dialog:
If you apply one of those two formats, Excel will automatically display the dates in the user's Short Date or Long Date format as specified in the Windows/MacOS settings. So I'd see 2024-06-26, you'd see 26/06/2024, and someone in the USA would see 06/26/2024. The underlying stored date will be the same in all cases.
If you want to force a cell to display using USA format, use mm\/dd\/yyyy as custom format.
HansVogelaar thank you for the information.
How can I change this pattern to the US format? Even if I select a cell and change the format it still remains the same.
Do you mean that applying a different format to the cells does not change the way they look?
If so, Excel treats the values as text instead of as dates.
Try the following:
- Select a column with such values.
- On the Data tab of the ribbon, click Text to Columns.
- Select Delimited, then click Next > twice.
- Select Date, then select DMY from the drop-down list.
- Click Finish.
Applying a date format should now work, hopefully.
HansVogelaar Thank you Hans! It works now.
