Changing the Format of a Date

  • Thread starter Thread starter Liz J
  • Start date Start date
L

Liz J

I have dates in Column A in this format: MM/DD/YYYY and I would like to
insert a column (column B) that would extract the month indicated in column
A. For example, cell A2 says: 3/19/2008, in cell B2 I would like it to say
"March." How would I do that in Excel?

Thanks for your help!
 
In B2 enter =A2 then custom format as mmmm

Or in B2 enter =TEXT(A2,"mmmm")


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP
 
Method 1: Let date be in A1, then in B1 use =A1 and give the cell a custom
format of either mmm or mmmm (mmm gives 'Jan', mmmm gives 'January') Copy B1
down column
Method 2: which lets you make the abbreviations is to use the formula
=CHOOSE(MONTH(A1),"Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May",
"June","July","Aug","Sept","Oct","Nov","Dec")

best wishes
 
.... or, if you want the content (rather than just the display) to be
"March", use =TEXT(A2,"mmmm")
 
Thanks, Gary. I have 2007 software, and, when I put it in that format, it
just shows the first letter of the month. And, there is another format that
shows month and year (example: "March-08"), but, the data I'm analyzing is
all for 2008. (The year input is not necessary). Is there a way where I can
get the month without the year; just the month's name in the cell?

Thank you again!
 
I have 2007 and can't replicate your problem. Are you sure you followed
Gary's instructions?

-- Right click on the cell, choose Format Cells...
-- On the Number tab, choose Custom
-- In the Type: box, enter mmmm
-- Click OK

You should now see March in the cell

Regards,
Fred.
 
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