ChetInSanJose wrote: `` I seem to have wasted everybody's time. Problem solved, but I don't know how.``
Maybe not. As I wrote: ``That [date configuration] might have changed, unbeknownst to you, especially if you use Office 365 (based on other users' experience)``.
I do not use Office 365 myself, for the very reason that MSFT seems to "update" it frequently with apparently poorly tested changes.
Again, I base that conclusion on other users' questions/complaints that are posted here and in other Excel forums. The conclusion might be wrong, based on biased and unknowledgeable comments.
(I also object to paying a periodic "subscription" fee for something that I used to pay a one-time purchase price.)
PS.... I confirm that when the system date configuration is d/M/yyyy, the DATEVALUE formula in E3 works with the text data in C3 and D3 and with 2022 in a cell named ThisYear.
OTOH, I also confirm that the formula returns #VALUE if the system date configuration is M/d/yyyy, which is the default for San Jose, CA, USA.