Excel DATE Function

The Excel DATE function is used to combine three separate values and combine them to form a Date.


Syntax of the DATE Function

The DATE function has 3 required arguments (input data separated by commas). The syntax is as follows:

=DATE(year, month, day)

  • Year (required) - The year number.
  • Month (required) - The month number.
  • Day (required) - The day number.

Examples using the DATE Function in Excel

Use this data for the following function examples.

A B C D
1 Name Year Month Day
2 Hugh Jackman 1968 10 12
3 Brad Pitt 1963 12 18
4 Scarlett Johansson 1984 11 22
5 Raymond Reddington 1960 2 7

Exercises Using Number Criteria

If we wanted to get the date format of Hugh Jackman birthday from the Excel table above, we could write:

=DATE(A2,C2,D2)

  • Year: A2 - The cell contaning the year value.
  • Month: C2 - The cell containing the month value.
  • Day: D2 - The cell containing the day value.

The function would return Hugh Jackman birthday in a date format 12/10/1968.

Important Note: The date format can be changed by pressing left click on the cell, select format cells, then date and finally choosing the date format you would like.


Continue to DATE practice exercises! →