The Date data type is for inputting date values according to the formatting that you set.
Setting a column, cell, or range of cells as a Date data type, you can ensure that users input dates in a consistent format. Also, there are multiple formulas you can apply to dates, including Duration which measures the number of days between two dates.
Use the Date data type whenever you need to set the date. For example, you can track due dates for when tasks are due, the birthdays of your employees, or use dates and formulas to see how many days have elapsed and how many days are left before your team's next milestone.
The Date data type only tracks dates, not times. Use our Date & time data type to track time and date.
Configuration Options
Strict
Like other data types, the Date data type can have Strict enabled. Selecting the Strict checkbox for Date cells will restrict users to input only dates. Also, columns that have Strict enabled cannot have cells of different data types.
Format and Locale
The formatting options available to you are dependent on the Locale you select. By default, each worksheet's location matches that of the creator, so the default locale suggested in the date picker will be the creator's locale. You can change this by selecting from one of 27 languages/locales.
Each locale has its own format types to correspond to that country and language. The available formatting options based on locale are as follows, with the default format in bold:
| Locale (location) | Format |
| English (United States) |
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| English (India) |
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| English (United Kingdom) |
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English (Canada) |
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English (Australia) |
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German (Germany) |
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German (Switzerland) |
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German (Austria) |
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Norwegian Nynorsk (Norway) |
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Russian (Russia) |
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Korean (South Korea) |
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Portuguese (Brazil) |
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Portuguese (Portugal) |
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Italian (Italy) |
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French (France) |
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French (Canada) |
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Spanish (United States) |
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Spanish (Mexico) |
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Spanish (Spain) |
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Chinese (Simplified, China) |
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Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan) |
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Arabic (Saudi Arabia) |
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Japanese (Japan) |
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Hebrew (Israel) |
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Dutch (Netherlands) |
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| Swedish(Sweden) |
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| Finnish (Finland) |
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How to Use Dates
Once you've configured the Date data type, you can input dates in the corresponding cells by manually entering them or choosing from the date picker by double clicking on any Date type cell.
In the date picker, the current date is highlighted with a blue border, and the cell date is highlighted with a blue fill. From the top of the date picker, the single arrows will advance the view by month, and the double arrows will advance the view by year. Click the blue Today button at the bottom of the date picker to automatically select the current date.
Conversion Behavior
When converting existing data in cells and columns to the Date data type, Spreadsheet.com will attempt to match the data to date formats like converting "01/01/2020" to "January 1, 2020".
Spreadsheet.com assumes the same locale as the worksheet's creator. So, for example, for a user in the United States, 01/02/2020 would be converted to "January 2, 2020", whereas, for a user in the United Kingdom, 01/02/2020 will be converted to "1 February 2020". Before converting dates, you may want to ensure the entered data is consistent with your desired locale formatting.
If you are interested in including the time in your data, consider using the Date & time data type or check out our Duration data type for calculating the number of days between dates. Read on to learn more about the rest of Spreadsheet.com's Data Types.