In Excel: use =MONTH(A2), =YEAR(A2) and =DAY(A2) to pull the three parts out of a date — each returns a NUMBER, so January is 1, not "Jan".
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Syntax
Arguments
| Argument | required / optional | Description |
|---|---|---|
serial_number | required | The date to read the part from — a cell holding a real date, not text that looks like one. |
Related functions
Confirm the column really holds dates — right-aligned by default, and =ISNUMBER(A2) returns TRUE.
Use =MONTH(A2), =YEAR(A2) or =DAY(A2) for the numeric part.
For a name rather than a number, use =TEXT(A2,"mmmm") or "mmm"; remember the result is text.
For a sortable month-and-year key, use =TEXT(A2,"yyyy-mm") rather than joining two numbers.
For grouping in a PivotTable or on a chart axis, =EOMONTH(A2,-1)+1 gives a real date at the month start.
If you get #VALUE!, the cell is text: fix it with DATEVALUE or Data ▸ Text to Columns before extracting anything.
Need it as an auditable file?
Ships inside the linked template — formula-driven, unlocked, audit-ready.
What this does
These three read one component out of a date serial number. MONTH returns 1–12, DAY returns 1–31, YEAR returns the four-digit year. The single most common surprise is that MONTH returns a number: to get a month NAME you need =TEXT(A2, "mmmm") for January or "mmm" for Jan, and TEXT returns text, so the result sorts alphabetically rather than chronologically. That is why a report grouped by month name usually runs April, August, December unless the sort is done on the month number and only the display uses TEXT. The second thing worth knowing is that a "month and year" grouping key should not be built by concatenating MONTH and YEAR — =TEXT(A2,"yyyy-mm") gives a key that sorts correctly, and =EOMONTH(A2,0) gives a real date you can chart on a time axis. Finally, these functions need a genuine date: fed text like "03/04/2026" they return #VALUE!, which is the fastest way to discover an imported column never became dates at all. Most people learn this as a sequence of clicks and forget it by next week; learning it as a pattern instead is what lets you apply it to the next, slightly different version of the problem without starting from scratch. That is the difference this page is trying to make. For “leap year formula in excel”, the reliable version is a short checking loop, not just the first command that appears to work. Run it on a deliberately small range first, watch how the affected formula change, and only then apply the same setup to the full sheet. When a formula is involved, keep the inputs labelled beside it, reference cells instead of typing values, and apply number formatting only after the result checks out. That is what makes a calculation you can defend to a CFO or an auditor useful in real work: repeatable, auditable, and not dependent on memory or luck.
A worked example
A2 holds 2026-08-14. =MONTH(A2) → 8, =YEAR(A2) → 2026, =DAY(A2) → 14. For a label rather than a number, =TEXT(A2,"mmmm") → August. For a grouping key that sorts properly, =TEXT(A2,"yyyy-mm") → 2026-08. To collapse a whole column to month starts for a PivotTable or chart, =EOMONTH(A2,-1)+1 → 2026-08-01. Almost every monthly report starts by splitting a date column into parts, and the two traps — numbers rather than names, and text keys that sort alphabetically — account for most of the wrong-looking summaries that follow. A practical tip before you scale it up: build it once on a small block of test data, confirm the number against the tool on this page, and only then point it at your real sheet. That one habit catches almost every mistake while it is still cheap to fix, long before a wrong figure reaches a report or a colleague.
In Google Sheets
Everything above works in Google Sheets too. Excel and Sheets share the formula syntax used here; only the surrounding menus are arranged differently. That portability is deliberate — learn it once and it follows you between the two tools and across Windows and Mac. Nothing on this page is behind a login or a download: the exact answer is at the top, and the detail below it is there for when you need it. That is the whole promise here — the answer first, and just enough context to make it stick. Treat “leap year formula in excel” as a small building block rather than a chore. Once the inputs sit in their own cells and the formula reads from them, the same setup answers a dozen related questions with a tweak, and Excel keeps every dependent figure current as the data changes. The tool above is there so you can rehearse and verify before committing anything to a real workbook; the steps and worked example are there so the logic sticks. Get it right once and it stops costing you time — it starts saving it, every time the question comes back around.
Common mistakes
- Expecting MONTH to return "August" — it returns 8, and the name needs TEXT.
- Sorting or grouping on a TEXT month name, which orders April, August, December instead of chronologically.
- Building a month-year key as MONTH&YEAR, which makes 12026 for December and sorts nonsensically.
- Running these against text that merely looks like a date and reading
#VALUE!as a formula problem rather than a data problem. - Using
=YEAR(TODAY())-YEAR(B2)as an age, which is wrong by up to a year —DATEDIFwith "y" is the correct tool.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get the month from a date in Excel?
=MONTH(A2) returns the month number, 1 to 12. For the name, use =TEXT(A2,"mmmm") or "mmm".
How do I extract the year from a date?
=YEAR(A2) returns the four-digit year as a number.
How do I get month and year together?
=TEXT(A2,"yyyy-mm") gives a key that sorts correctly, and =EOMONTH(A2,-1)+1 gives a real date at the start of the month for charts and PivotTables.
How do I turn a month number into a month name?
=TEXT(DATE(2026, A2, 1), "mmmm") — build any date in that month and format it. The result is text.
Why does MONTH return #VALUE!?
The cell holds text rather than a date. Check with =ISNUMBER(A2) and convert with DATEVALUE or Data ▸ Text to Columns.