date display as numbers

[Guest]

When I enter the date as 1/2 and hit enter, it automatically display as
39114. Then I went Format>cell>number>click date and choose the type 14-Mar
and click OK,

Then when I enter the 1/2 and enter again, it will display as 1/02/2007 on
the formular box, and will spill over to the next row. If I click the cell
again, it will display 39114 again. I try to clear all the format, and still
won't do any good.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Gord Dibben]

What do you want the display to look like?

39114 is the Excel serial number for February 01, 2007

If the cell is formatted as General it will display 39114 in the cell and
1/02/2007 in the formula bar.

If formatted to date the cell will display whatever date format you choose.

The formula bar will continue to show 1/02/2007


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

 

[Guest]

IF you want the date to be 01-feb then try the custom format of dd-mmm

John