--- title: "WEEKDAY function in Excel: syntax and examples | PracticeExcel" description: "How to use WEEKDAY in Excel and Google Sheets: the day of the week as a number, Monday-first weeks and spotting weekends." canonical_url: "https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/weekday" locale: en meta: "og:description": "How to use WEEKDAY in Excel and Google Sheets: the day of the week as a number, Monday-first weeks and spotting weekends." "og:image": "https://practiceexcelonline.com/_og/d/c_Page%2Ctitle_~V0VFS0RBWSBmdW5jdGlvbiBpbiBFeGNlbDogc3ludGF4IGFuZCBleGFtcGxlcw%2Cdescription_~SG93IHRvIHVzZSBXRUVLREFZIGluIEV4Y2VsIGFuZCBHb29nbGUgU2hlZXRzOiB0aGUgZGF5IG9mIHRoZSB3ZWVrIGFzIGEgbnVtYmVyLCBNb25kYXktZmlyc3Qgd2Vla3MgYW5kIHNwb3R0aW5nIHdlZWtlbmRzLg%2Ceyebrow_Excel%2Bfunctions%2Csite_practiceexcel%2Ccode_~V0VFS0RBWShzZXJpYWxfbnVtYmVyLCBbcmV0dXJuX3R5cGVdKQ%2Cp_Ii9mdW5jdGlvbnMvd2Vla2RheSI%2Cs_pNT88FNDuzzZ54KB.png" "og:image:height": "600" "og:image:type": image/png "og:image:width": "1200" "og:title": "WEEKDAY function in Excel: syntax and examples | PracticeExcel" "twitter:image": "https://practiceexcelonline.com/_og/d/c_Page%2Ctitle_~V0VFS0RBWSBmdW5jdGlvbiBpbiBFeGNlbDogc3ludGF4IGFuZCBleGFtcGxlcw%2Cdescription_~SG93IHRvIHVzZSBXRUVLREFZIGluIEV4Y2VsIGFuZCBHb29nbGUgU2hlZXRzOiB0aGUgZGF5IG9mIHRoZSB3ZWVrIGFzIGEgbnVtYmVyLCBNb25kYXktZmlyc3Qgd2Vla3MgYW5kIHNwb3R0aW5nIHdlZWtlbmRzLg%2Ceyebrow_Excel%2Bfunctions%2Csite_practiceexcel%2Ccode_~V0VFS0RBWShzZXJpYWxfbnVtYmVyLCBbcmV0dXJuX3R5cGVdKQ%2Cp_Ii9mdW5jdGlvbnMvd2Vla2RheSI%2Cs_pNT88FNDuzzZ54KB.png" --- > Index of every page on this site: [llms.txt](https://practiceexcelonline.com/llms.txt) # **The WEEKDAY function** Returns the day of the week of a date as a number. By default 1 is Sunday and 7 is Saturday; with 2 as the second argument, Monday is 1. = WEEKDAY( ## **Syntax** ``` WEEKDAY(serial_number, [return_type]) ```
**serial_number **
The date to check.
**return_type **(optional)
1 or left out for Sunday 1 to Saturday 7, 2 for Monday 1 to Sunday 7, 3 for Monday 0 to Sunday 6.
## **Examples** B1=WEEKDAY(DATE(2024,3,15)) | | A | B | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | | **6** | B1`=WEEKDAY(1DATE(2024,3,15),22)` | | A | B | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | | **5** | **In plain words:** The day of the week of 1Mar 15, 2024, 2counting Monday as 1. B1=IF(WEEKDAY(DATE(2024,3,16),2)>5,"Weekend","Weekday") | | A | B | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | | **Weekend** | ## **Practice WEEKDAY** - [**1****Day of the week with WEEKDAY**→](https://practiceexcelonline.com/practice/networkdays-workday/weekday-day-of-week) - [**2****Weekend or weekday**→](https://practiceexcelonline.com/practice/week-numbers/weekend-or-weekday) - [**3****The Monday that starts the week**→](https://practiceexcelonline.com/practice/week-numbers/monday-of-the-week) - [**4****Weekdays only**→](https://practiceexcelonline.com/practice/data-validation/weekdays-only) ## **Read the guide** - [**Conditional formatting in Excel: highlight cells and rows with rules and formulas**](https://practiceexcelonline.com/learn/conditional-formatting-excel) - [**How to create a drop-down list in Excel, and make it update itself**](https://practiceexcelonline.com/learn/drop-down-list-excel) ## **Questions**
### How do I get the name of the day instead of a number? Use TEXT with a day format, as in =TEXT(A2,"dddd") for Friday or =TEXT(A2,"ddd") for Fri.
### Why does WEEKDAY return 1 for Sunday? That is the default, return type 1. Add 2 as the second argument, as in =WEEKDAY(A2,2), to count from Monday as 1 to Sunday as 7.
## **Related functions** - [**WORKDAY**](https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/workday) - [**NETWORKDAYS**](https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/networkdays) - [**WEEKNUM**](https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/weeknum) - [**TEXT**](https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/text) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/#identity","@type":"Organization","name":"PracticeExcel","url":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/","logo":{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/#logo"}},{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/#website","@type":"WebSite","inLanguage":"en-US","name":"PracticeExcel","url":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/","alternateName":["Practice Excel Online","PracticeExcelOnline.com"],"publisher":{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/#identity"},"workTranslation":{"@id":"https://excelopgaver.dk/#website"}},{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/weekday#webpage","description":"How to use WEEKDAY in Excel and Google Sheets: the day of the week as a number, Monday-first weeks and spotting weekends.","name":"WEEKDAY function in Excel: syntax and examples","url":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/weekday","@type":["WebPage","FAQPage"],"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/weekday#breadcrumb"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/#website"},"mainEntity":[{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/weekday#/schema/question/1"},{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/weekday#/schema/question/2"}],"potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/weekday"]}],"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/#logo"}},{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/weekday#breadcrumb","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","name":"Home","item":"https://practiceexcelonline.com","position":1},{"@type":"ListItem","name":"Excel functions","item":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions","position":2},{"@type":"ListItem","name":"WEEKDAY function in Excel: syntax and examples","position":3}]},{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/weekday#article","description":"How to use WEEKDAY in Excel and Google Sheets: the day of the week as a number, Monday-first weeks and spotting weekends.","headline":"WEEKDAY function in Excel: syntax and examples","inLanguage":"en-US","thumbnailUrl":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/_og/d/c_Page%2Ctitle_~V0VFS0RBWSBmdW5jdGlvbiBpbiBFeGNlbDogc3ludGF4IGFuZCBleGFtcGxlcw%2Cdescription_~SG93IHRvIHVzZSBXRUVLREFZIGluIEV4Y2VsIGFuZCBHb29nbGUgU2hlZXRzOiB0aGUgZGF5IG9mIHRoZSB3ZWVrIGFzIGEgbnVtYmVyLCBNb25kYXktZmlyc3Qgd2Vla3MgYW5kIHNwb3R0aW5nIHdlZWtlbmRzLg%2Ceyebrow_Excel%2Bfunctions%2Csite_practiceexcel%2Ccode_~V0VFS0RBWShzZXJpYWxfbnVtYmVyLCBbcmV0dXJuX3R5cGVdKQ%2Cp_Ii9mdW5jdGlvbnMvd2Vla2RheSI%2Cs_pNT88FNDuzzZ54KB.png","@type":["Article","TechArticle"],"author":{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/#identity"},"image":{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/#/schema/image/1"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/weekday#webpage"},"mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/weekday#webpage"},"publisher":{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/#identity"}},{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/weekday#/schema/question/1","@type":"Question","inLanguage":"en-US","name":"How do I get the name of the day instead of a number?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Use TEXT with a day format, as in =TEXT(A2,\"dddd\") for Friday or =TEXT(A2,\"ddd\") for Fri."}},{"@id":"https://practiceexcelonline.com/functions/weekday#/schema/question/2","@type":"Question","inLanguage":"en-US","name":"Why does WEEKDAY return 1 for Sunday?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"That is the default, return type 1. 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