Let's say you want to adjust a revised schedule date by adding two weeks to see what the new completion date will be, or you need to determine how long an activity will take to complete in a list of project tasks. There are several ways to add dates.What do you want to do?

Add a number of days to a date

To do this task, use the addition (+) operator.

Example

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.

How to copy an example

  1. Create a blank workbook or worksheet.
  2. Select the example in the Help topic.

    Note Do not select the row or column headers.

    selecting an example from helpSelecting an example from Help

  3. Press CTRL+C.
  4. In the worksheet, select cell A1, and press CTRL+V.
  5. To switch between viewing the results and viewing the formulas that return the results, press CTRL+` (grave accent), or on the Formulas tab, in the Formula Auditing group, click the Show Formulas button.
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A B
Date Days to add
6/9/2007 3
=TODAY() 5
12/10/2008 54
Formula Description (Result)
=A2+B2 Add 3 days to 6/9/2007 (6/12/2007)
=A3+B3 Add 5 days to the current day (varies)
=A4+B4 Add 54 days to 12/10/2008 (2/2/2009)

Add a number of months to a date

To do this task, use the DATE, YEAR, MONTH, and DAY functions.

Example

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.

How to copy an example

  1. Create a blank workbook or worksheet.
  2. Select the example in the Help topic.

    Note Do not select the row or column headers.

    selecting an example from helpSelecting an example from Help

  3. Press CTRL+C.
  4. In the worksheet, select cell A1, and press CTRL+V.
  5. To switch between viewing the results and viewing the formulas that return the results, press CTRL+` (grave accent), or on the Formulas tab, in the Formula Auditing group, click the Show Formulas button.
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A B
Date Months to add
6/9/2007 3
9/2/2007 5
12/10/2008 25
Formula Description (Result)
=DATE(YEAR(A2),MONTH(A2)+B2,DAY(A2)) Add 3 months to 6/9/2007 (9/9/2007)
=DATE(YEAR(A3),MONTH(A3)+B3,DAY(A3)) Add 5 months to 9/2/2007 (2/2/2008)
=DATE(YEAR(A4),MONTH(A4)+B4,DAY(A4)) Add 25 months to 12/10/2008 (1/10/2011)

Function details

Add a number of years to a date

To do this task, use the DATE, YEAR, MONTH, and DAY functions.

Example

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.

How to copy an example

  1. Create a blank workbook or worksheet.
  2. Select the example in the Help topic.

    Note Do not select the row or column headers.

    selecting an example from helpSelecting an example from Help

  3. Press CTRL+C.
  4. In the worksheet, select cell A1, and press CTRL+V.
  5. To switch between viewing the results and viewing the formulas that return the results, press CTRL+` (grave accent), or on the Formulas tab, in the Formula Auditing group, click the Show Formulas button.
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A B
Date Years to add
6/9/2007 3
9/2/2007 5
12/10/2008 25
Formula Description (Result)
=DATE(YEAR(A2)+B2,MONTH(A2),DAY(A2)) Add 3 years to 6/9/2007 (6/9/2010)
=DATE(YEAR(A3)+B3,MONTH(A3),DAY(A3)) Add 5 years to 9/2/2007 (9/2/2012)
=DATE(YEAR(A4)+B4,MONTH(A4),DAY(A4)) Add 25 years to 12/10/2008 (12/10/2033)

Function details

Add a combination of days, months, and years to a date

To do this task, use the DATE, YEAR, MONTH, and DAY functions.

Example

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.

How to copy an example

  1. Create a blank workbook or worksheet.
  2. Select the example in the Help topic.

    Note Do not select the row or column headers.

    selecting an example from helpSelecting an example from Help

  3. Press CTRL+C.
  4. In the worksheet, select cell A1, and press CTRL+V.
  5. To switch between viewing the results and viewing the formulas that return the results, press CTRL+` (grave accent), or on the Formulas tab, in the Formula Auditing group, click the Show Formulas button.
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A
Date
6/9/2007
Formula Description (Result)
=DATE(YEAR(A2)+3,MONTH(A2)+1,DAY(A2)+5) Add 3 years, 1 month, and 5 days to 6/9/2007 (7/14/2010)
=DATE(YEAR(A2)+1,MONTH(A2)+7,DAY(A2)+5) Add 1 year, 7 months, and 5 days to 6/9/2007 (1/14/2009)

The formula above has the following arguments.

formula to add dates Formula to add dates

callout 1 start_date: A date or reference to a cell that contains a date.

callout 2 add_year: The number of years to be added.

callout 3 add_month: The number of months to be added.

callout 4 add_day: The number of days to be added.

Function details