Excel date formatting

[Arron]

Hi~

I am having trouble with excel changing the format of how I am wishing to
enter the dates. I am entering the dates one of two ways: The first is
Season/year (ie. Fall 1999), the second is Month/year (ie. March 1999).
Excel doesn't change the season/year on me, but it does change the month/year
date into a month/day/year format, and one that is totally off. It gives me
something like 06/01/1905 when I type in March 1999. Any suggestions on how I
might remedy this problem and get Excel to not change what and how I have
enter the dates would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Arron

 

[Shane Devenshire]

Hi,

It leaves Fall 2009 alone because it is not a date as far as Excel is
concerned. But when you enter March 1999 it is an acceptable Excel date
which is automatically changed to the first of the month, so you see 3/1/1999
on the formula bar and Mar-99 in the cell. Just change the cell format to
display as March 1999 - choose Format, Cells, Number tab, Custom, and enter
MMMM YYYY in the Type box. A second solution is to type an apostropy before
the March 1999 to make the entry text. As for the June 1 1905 - I can't
duplicate that, but if you enter 1999 and then format the cell to a date you
will get June 21 1905. Excel stored dates as number beginning on Jan 1, 1900
as 1 and adding 1 more for every day, so 1999 is 1999 days after Dec 31, 1899
or June 21, 1905.