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How to convert serial number to date in Excel?

Author Siluvia Last modified

Sometimes, when entering a date into a cell that has been formatted as number, you will get a serial number, such as 42088, instead of the normal date 3/25/2015. For converting these serial number to real date, the following methods in this article will help you.

Convert serial number to date with Format Cells function
Convert serial number to date with formula
Quickly convert serial number to date with Kutools for Excel

Convert serial number to date with Format Cells function

The Format Cells function can help you easily convert serial number to date in Excel.

1. Select the cells with serial number that you want to convert to date, right click and then select Format Cells from the right-clicking menu. See screenshot:

right click the cells and then select Format Cells

2. In the Format Cells dialog box, please go to the Number tab, click Date in the Category box, and if you need, specify a date format in the Type box, and finally click the OK button. See screenshot:

specify a date formatting in the dialog box

Then the selected cells with serial numbers are converted to dates immediately.

Easily convert serial number to any kind of date format in Excel:

The Kutools for Excel's Apply Date Formatting utility helps you easily convert all serial numbers in a range to any kind of date format as you need in Excel.
Download Kutools for Excel now! (30-day free trail)

convert serial number to any kind of date format by kutools

Convert serial number to date with formula

You can also convert serial number to date with formula in Excel. Please do as follows.

1. Select a blank cell (says cell B2) adjacent to the serial number cell you need to convert to date, then enter formula =TEXT(A2,"m/d/yyyy") into the Formula Bar, and press the Enter key.

enter a formula to convert serial number to date

2. Keep selecting cell B2, then drag its Fill Handle to the cell with the serial number you need to convert to date. Then you can see all serial numbers are converted to corresponding dates in a helper column.

drag and fill the formula to other cells

Convert serial number to date with Kutools for Excel

Besides the above two methods, The Apply Date Formatting utility of Kutools for Excel can not only help you converting serial numbers to dates, but providing various date formatting for you to use.

Kutools for Excel offers over 300 advanced features to streamline complex tasks, boosting creativity and efficiency. Itegarate with AI capabilities, Kutools automates tasks with precision, making data management effortless. Detailed information of Kutools for Excel...         Free trial...

1. Select the cells with serial numbers you need to convert to date, then click Kutools > Format > Apply Date Formatting. See screenshot:

click Apply Date Formatting feature of kutools

2. And in the Apply Date Formatting dialog box, choose a kind of date format from the Date formatting box, and finally click the OK button.

choose a kind of date format from the Date formatting box

You can see the selected cells with serial numbers are converted to specific date format immediately.

  If you want to have a free trial (30-day) of this utility, please click to download it, and then go to apply the operation according above steps.

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