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".
On this page8
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. 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. The difference between a quick fix and a sheet you can trust is the extra minute you spend validating “excel get day from date”. Start on a copy or a tiny sample, keep the affected cells visible, and compare the result with the tool above before you touch the real workbook. 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. The point is a workflow that saves repeating the same clicks every week, but the practical win is that someone else can open the file and understand what happened without asking you.
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. If there is any chance you will reuse this, drop it into a small template tab right now: a labelled input area on the left and the formula beside it, checked once against the tool above. Next time the same question comes up, the answer is a single paste away instead of a rebuild from memory.
In Google Sheets
If you are in Google Sheets rather than Excel, the good news is that the formula shown here is identical and the workflow barely changes — menus sit across the top instead of in a ribbon, and a few function names differ slightly, but anything you build here moves across with little or no rework. 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. The short version of “excel get day from date”: the answer is at the top of this page, the tool proves it on your own numbers, and the sections above explain why it holds so the next variation does not stump you. Excel rewards people who reference cells instead of typing values and who keep inputs separate from formulas, because that is what makes a result you can audit months later. Build it once, deliberately, with the live tool as a check, and you convert a one-off lookup into a reusable skill — which is the whole point of learning the why and not just the what.
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.
Other ways people ask this
This is also commonly searched as “how to get day from date in excel”, “how to get day from a date in excel”, “how to get the day from date in excel” and “how to get the day from the date in excel”. They describe the identical operation, so you are in the right place no matter how you phrased it.
Why do people search for this in so many different ways?
Because the same task has many names. “how to get day from date in excel”, “how to get day from a date in excel”, “how to get the day from date in excel” all point at the one operation explained on this page, which is why they all lead here.