Build a date with DATE
PremiumThe year, month and day of a date came from a system in three columns. In D2, use DATE to turn A2, B2 and C2 into one date.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Year | Month | Day | Date | ||
| 2 | 2024 | 3 | 15 | |||
| 3 | ||||||
| 4 | ||||||
| 5 | ||||||
| 6 | ||||||
| 7 | ||||||
| 8 |
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It comes up in this mock test: Excel test for finance jobs
Why this works
DATE(2024,3,15) gives the date Mar 15, 2024, whatever date order your computer uses, because each part has its own argument. DATE also handles overflow: DATE(2024,13,1) is Jan 1, 2025.
Common mistake: Joining the parts with & into "2024315" or "15/3/2024". That is text, and you cannot add days to it or sort it as a date.
The answer
- D2
=DATE(1A2,2B2,3C2)
In plain words: Build a date from 1the year in A2, 2the month in B2 and 3the day in C2.