By default, January 1, 1900, is serial number 1, and January 1, 2008, is serial number 39448 because it is 39,448 days after January 1, 1900.To copy the conversion formula into a range of contiguous cells, select the cell containing the formula that you entered, and then drag the fill handle across a range of empty cells that matches in size the range of cells that contain text dates.Īfter you drag the fill handle, you should have a range of cells with serial numbers that corresponds to the range of cells that contain text dates. Press ENTER, and the DATEVALUE function returns the serial number of the date that is represented by the text date.Įxcel stores dates as sequential serial numbers so that they can be used in calculations. Select a blank cell and verify that its number format is General.Ĭlick the cell that contains the text-formatted date that you want to convert. Then copy the formula, select the cells that contain the text dates, and use Paste Special to apply a date format to them. To convert a text date in a cell to a serial number, use the DATEVALUE function.

Convert txt to dat