how do I format cells to change date and time to just date

[Guest]

I want to format a column that contains date and time and I want it to show
just the date and not the time. Going into format and clicking on the date
and changing doesnt work.

 

[Niek Otten]

Probably the cells aren't really dates, but text. You can check with the
ISTEXT() function.
If they are text, formatting doesn't have any effect.

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Kind regards,

Niek Otten

Microsoft MVP - Excel

 

[doucetrr]

if your column contains text (sounds like it does but you can verify b
using ISTEXT or TYPE - Type will return "2" if it's text) then you ca
convert the values to a number by using VALUE. You have to insert
column first (ideally to the left). Let's say you have a date in th
cell C2 and B is the new column you added. Type "=VALUE(C2)" in cel
B2. That will convert your string date (as long as it's in a dat
format that Excel recognizes) to a number date. It will be formatted a
a number initially but you can now apply the date formats. If this is
one time change, I would copy > paste values on column B and the
delete column C so it's cleaner to work with

 

[Anne Troy]

Likely, your data is just text, then. You can try fixing it with "data isn't
recognized" at:

http://www.officearticles.com/excel/data_cleanup_tips_for_microsoft_excel.htm

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~Anne Troy

www.OfficeArticles.com
www.MyExpertsOnline.com