How to Remove Time From Date in Excel
Excel is a powerful tool for organizing and analyzing data, but sometimes the default settings can be a little frustrating. One common issue that users encounter is dealing with dates that include both the date and time. This can be particularly annoying if you only need the date and don’t want to display the time. Fortunately, Excel provides a simple solution for removing the time from a date. In this post, we’ll walk you through the steps to remove time from a date in Excel.
Step 1: Identify the Date Column
First, you’ll need to identify the column that contains the date you want to modify. For the purpose of this tutorial, let’s assume that you have a list of dates in column A.
Step 2: Select the Cells
Next, select the cells that contain the dates you want to modify. You can do this by clicking on the first cell in the column and dragging the cursor down to select all the cells you want to modify.
Step 3: Open the Format Cells Dialog Box
Once you’ve selected the cells, right-click on one of the selected cells and choose “Format Cells” from the menu. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl+1”.
Step 4: Choose the Date Format
In the Format Cells dialog box, choose the “Number” tab and then select “Date” from the Category list. This will display a list of different date formats you can use.
Step 5: Choose the Date Format You Want
Select the date format you want to use from the list. In this case, we want to remove the time from the date, so we’ll select the “Short Date” format. This will display only the date in the selected cells.
Step 6: Apply the Format
Once you’ve selected the date format you want to use, click “OK” to apply the changes. Excel will remove the time from the selected cells and display only the date.
Step 7: Check the Results
To verify that the date format has been applied correctly, you can select a cell that was modified and check the formula bar. The formula bar should display only the date without the time.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully removed time from a date in Excel. This technique can be particularly useful if you need to create charts or pivot tables based on dates without the time component.
Conclusion
Excel provides a simple way to remove time from a date. By following these steps, you can easily modify your data to display only the date and avoid any confusion caused by the inclusion of the time component.