How to convert number string to date and time in Excel?

In some times, you may directly enter dates as number string for saving time and enhancing working efficiency, but for formal cases, you need to convert these number strings to standard date formatting as below screenshot shown. Here I introduce some tricks to help you convert the number string to standard date formatting in Excel.
Convert number string 20110312 to date formatting with Text to Column
Convert number string 40614.43 to date and time with Format Cells
Convert number string to standard date with Kutools for Excel

Convert number string 20110312 to date formatting with Text to Column

To convert number string such as 20110312 to date formatting, you can apply Text to Column to handle.

1. Select the number strings you want to convert to dates, and click Data > Text to Columns. See screenshot:

2. In the Text to Column dialog, click Next > Next to go to the Step 3 of 3, and then check Date, and go to select YMD from right drop down list (If your number string is entered in other date type, you can select others). See screenshot:

3. Click Finish, and now the number strings have been converted to dates.

Convert number string 40614.43 to date and time with Format Cells

To convert number string such as 40614.43 to date and time formatting, you can apply Format Cells function.

1. Select the number string you want to convert to date and time, and press Ctrl + 1 to open Format Cells dialog, then go to the Number tab, select Custom in the Category list, then type mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm into the Type textbox. See screenshot:

2. Click OK, and all the number strings have been converted to date and time formatting.

Convert number string to standard date with Kutools for Excel

IF there are multiple nonstandard dates needed to convert to standard date formatting, you can apply Kutools for Excel’s Convert to Date utility, which can quickly convert various nonstandard dates to standard dates as you need.

After free installing Kutools for Excel, please do as below:

Select the dates or numbers strings you want to convert to standard dates, and click Kutools > Content > Convert to Date. See screenshot:

Then you can see the selected dates have been converted to standard dates. See screenshot:

Click here to know more about Convert to Date.