Ten Minute Guide to Excel 97

Entering Dates and Times

You can enter dates and times in a variety of formats. When you enter a date using a format shown in Table 5.1, Excel converts the date into a number that reflects the number of days between January 1, 1900 and that date. Even though you won't see this number (Excel displays your entry as a normal date), the number is used whenever you use this date in a calculation. By the way, the feature that automatically formats your data based on the way you enter it is called AutoFormat.

Table 5.1. Valid Formats for Dates and Times

Format	Example
M/D	4/8
M-YY	4-58
MM/DD/YY	4/8/58 or 04/08/58
MMM—YY	Jan—92
MMMMMMMMM-YY	September-93
MMMMMMMMM DD, YYYY	September 3, 1993
DD—MMM—YY	28—Oct—91
DD—MMM	6—Sep
HH:MM	16:50
HH:MM:SS	8:22:59
HH:MM ...