convert to date format

[Mosaddeq Aziz]

hi all,

i have exported an word table to excel. in one column of the word file date
was written in the form of dd.mm.yy. now when i copied the the table into
excel, the excel can't read the date in dd.mm.yy. i need excel to convert
them them to dd/mm/yy format and treat them as date. is that possible?

mosaddeq

 

[google]

After the import, select the column of dates and then a simple CTRL+H,
Replace All to replace "." with "/". That should convert the dates on-
the-fly.

 

[Dave Peterson]

I'd check this after the conversion.

I use mdy order and I'm not sure if dates like 01.02.03 would be converted into
the correct date. In fact, 23.12.03 was converted to 23/12/03 -- but it was
that string, not a date.

If the OP's windows short date is dmy order, then I bet it would work ok.

 

[Dave Peterson]

I'd select the column
Data|text to columns (in xl2003 menus)
then fixed width (and remove any lines that excel may have guessed).

Then choose date (dmy order) and finish up the wizard.

Then format the way you like.

I'd use an unambiguous format first to check, then the dd/mm/yy that you want.