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.
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. Keep the inputs visible and clearly labelled and the whole thing stays auditable — anyone who opens the file later, including you, can see at a glance exactly what feeds the result and change one assumption without hunting through the formula. Treat “excel extract day from date” as a small repeatable workflow rather than a one-off click you hope to remember next time. Use a small test block before the live file, so any surprise in the affected cells shows up while it is still harmless. 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 turns a workflow that saves repeating the same clicks every week into a method you can reuse, explain, and defend when the workbook leaves your screen.
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
Google Sheets handles this almost identically to Excel. The formula syntax above is the same, and the menu lives under a slightly different label rather than a ribbon tab. Use the platform toggle at the top of the page to switch every keyboard shortcut between Windows and Mac, and expect at most cosmetic differences in naming. 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. If you take one thing from this page on “excel extract day from date”, make it the habit rather than the keystrokes: set the problem up with labelled inputs, reference those cells, and let Excel do the recomputing. Bookmark the page for the syntax, but do the example once in a blank sheet and check it against the tool above — five minutes of hands-on practice fixes the method in memory far better than re-reading, and it surfaces the small snags while they are still harmless. After that the technique is genuinely yours: faster than searching for it again, and reliable enough to drop into work that other people depend on.
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.