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Problem formatting date

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dp - May 20, 2010 at 03:40 PM
 dp - May 20, 2010 at 04:45 PM
Hello,

I'm trying to use "date" to format cells in Excel 2003. I've selected number>date>mm/dd/yy. So, for example I enter today's date as 052010, instead of 05/20/10, it is converted to 05/24/42. Could someone please help?

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Answer 1 / 1
rizvisa1 Posts 4478 Registration date Thursday January 28, 2010 Status Contributor Last seen May 5, 2022 766
May 20, 2010 at 03:52 PM
The reason is in excel dates internally are serial number and this number equates to that that.
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dp
May 20, 2010 at 04:18 PM
So, how do I get around this and just make it work? Thank you for your help.
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rizvisa1 Posts 4478 Registration date Thursday January 28, 2010 Status Contributor Last seen May 5, 2022 766
May 20, 2010 at 04:24 PM
Are you entering date like this or do you have some data dump which has dates like that. If you are entering date like that, you need to start entering in the format of date.

If this is a data dump and you want some column to be formatted as date, then see this
https://ccm.net/forum/affich-350882-cannot-change-the-date-format-in-excel-2007
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dp
May 20, 2010 at 04:32 PM
I'm trying to format a new & simple spreadsheet,and in several columns, dates will be entered. So, I selected format>cells>number>date>03/14/01. OK. However, when I enter today's date as a test, 052010, the cell shows 05/24/42. Is it just easier to select a general format and enter 05/20/10 manually everytime?
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rizvisa1 Posts 4478 Registration date Thursday January 28, 2010 Status Contributor Last seen May 5, 2022 766
May 20, 2010 at 04:40 PM
Yes it is easier and safer to enter the date in the 5/20/10 format. As far formatting of the cell is concerned, it can be any that you want, just enter the data in m/d/yy format
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dp
May 20, 2010 at 04:45 PM
Thank you for your help!
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