Microsoft KB Archive/47570

{| = Excel: DAY Function Does Not Display Expected Date =
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Last reviewed: October 31, 1994

Article ID: Q47570

SUMMARY
Formatting a Microsoft Excel cell containing the formula &quot;=DAY(date)&quot; with the number format &quot;dddd&quot; does not return the day of the week of the date entered in the formula.

For example, if cell A1 contains the date 10/1/88 (which is a Sunday), the result of DAY(A1) is the number 1, which represents the first day of the week, or Sunday.

If the cell is then formatted as &quot;dddd&quot;, Excel sees the number 1 as the serial number 1, which is January 1, 1904, or a Saturday.

To return the day of the week of the date contained within the cell, use the format &quot;dddd&quot; without using the DAY function on the date.

MORE INFORMATION
The DAY function returns a number representing the day of the week of a certain date. For example, if a date falls on a Sunday, the DAY function returns the number 1. If the date falls on a Monday, DAY returns a 2, and so on, up to 7, which is Saturday.

The cell format &quot;dddd&quot; displays only the day of the week in a cell containing a date. For example, if the date represented by the serial number in a cell is on a Sunday, the cell would display &quot;Sunday&quot;.

For more information on day number formatting, see page 179 of the &quot;Microsoft Excel User's Guide&quot; version 3.0 manual. For more information on the DAY function, see page 46 of the &quot;Microsoft Excel Function Reference&quot; version 3.0 manual.
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