Microsoft Excel offers various functions that help simplify data management, calculations, and operations based on data. Among these functions, the DATEDIF function is considered a powerful tool for calculating the difference between two dates. Although not listed prominently in Excel’s function suggestions, DATEDIF remains highly relevant, especially in contexts where you need to calculate durations, like age, tenure, or project timelines.
In this blog, we are going to walk you through what the DATEDIF function in Excel is, its purpose, syntax, and various use cases, along with its best practices. So let’s get started!
Table of Contents:
What is the DATEDIF Function?
DATEDIF is a function in Excel that helps you find the difference between two dates. It can be used to calculate the number of years, months, or days between two dates. This makes it useful for tasks like determining someone’s age, checking how long a project has lasted, or measuring time intervals.
Even though DATEDIF works well in Excel, it is considered to be an undocumented function. This means that it does not appear on the list of built-in functions in Excel, and you won’t find much help about it directly from Excel. Also, if you use incorrect dates, like if the end date comes before the start date, the DATEDIF function will display an error.
Syntax for DATEDIF function
The syntax for the DATEDIF function is given below:
DATEDIF(start_date, end_date, unit)
Where,
- start_date: It represents the start date in a valid date format.
- end_date: It represents the end date in a valid date format.
- Unit: It represents the text string that is used to specify the type of information you want to be returned.
Now, let us talk about the different types of units:
- “Y”: It represents the number of complete years between the start dates and end dates.
- “M”: It represents the number of complete months between the start and end dates.
- “D”: It represents the number of days between the start date and the end date.
- “MD”: It represents the difference between the start and end dates, by ignoring months and years.
- “YM”: It represents the difference between the months in the start and end dates, by ignoring the days and years.
- “YD”: It represents the difference between the start and end dates, by ignoring the number of years.
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Using the DATEDIF Function in Excel
To have a good understanding of how the DATEDIF function is used in Excel, let us take some examples.
Example 1: To calculate the number of days between the start date and the end date
- Let us calculate the number of days between May 10, 2015, and July 10, 2017.
- Now, let’s use the formula “=DATEDIF(start_date,end_date, unit)”.
Replace start_date with “10/5/2015”, end_date with “10/7/2017”, and unit with “d”.
- Now, press “Enter” to calculate the number of days between the start_date and the end_date. You will get the number of days to be 733.
- You can also replace the start_date and end_date with 10/5/2015 and 10/7/2017, respectively. You will still get the same answer as 733.
Example 2: To calculate the number of weeks between the start date and the end date
- Suppose you have a list of debtors with debts. Now, just calculate the number of days from the day they were required to pay, i.e., July 31, 2017.
- Now, let’s use the formula “=DATEDIF(start_date,end_date, unit)”.
Replace start_date with B2, end_date with C2, and unit with d. You will get the number of days for your results.
- For calculating the number of weeks, write =(DATEDIF(start_date, end_date, “d”)/7).
Example 3: To calculate the number of months between the start date and the end date
- For calculating the number of months between dates, you can use the DATEDIF function with “M”.
- To calculate the number of months use the formula “=DATEDIF(start_date, end_date, “m”)”
- Now, if you want to ignore years, the formula you need to use is =DATEDIF(start_date, end_date, “ym”).
Example 4: To Calculate the Anniversary Date
- Suppose a flower store needs to send flowers to customers on an anniversary date. You need to calculate the anniversary data. The data is given below:
- You should use the formula =EDATE(B5,(DATEDIF(date,as_of,”y”)+1)*12)
The solution you will get is:
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Advantages of using DATEDIF in Excel
Some of the advantages of using DATEDIF in Excel are given below:
- Versatility in Date Calculations: In Excel, you can use the DATEDIF function to find the difference between two dates in days, months, or years. It can be useful for tasks like calculating someone’s age, tracking the duration of projects, or measuring the time between events.
- Simplicity and Ease of Use: The DATEDIF function in Excel is easy to use if you are not an expert in using Excel. You just need to have three things: a start date, an end date, and what you want to measure (like days, months, or years).
Applications of DATEDIF in Excel
The applications of DATEDIF in Excel are given below:
- Financial Analysis: It helps you to analyze load durations, investment periods, and interest calculation.
- Healthcare: It is also helpful in the ages of patients, durations of treatments, and follow-up schedules.
- Project Management: DATEDIF can be useful for calculating project timelines, deadlines, and durations.
- Human Resources: It also helps you to determine ages, tenure, and retirement eligibility.
Best Practices for Using DATEDIF Efficiently
- Combine with Today(): If you use TODAY() at the end, it works as the end date and makes it easier for you to create dynamic age or calculations of tenures.
- Use of IF Statements: If you want to build more logical functions, you can nest DATEDIF within IF(). This will help you to control outputs based on duration thresholds.
- Formatting is Key: You should always make sure that the cells that are referenced contain valid date formats.
- Be Aware of Leap Years: DATEDIF handles leap years internally. This makes it more accurate than some manual methods to calculate dates.
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Conclusion
Despite its understated presence in Excel, the DATEDIF function is an important tool for dealing with dates. It helps you to deliver clean, accurate calculations for age, service length, and other time-based metrics. It is important to have a strong understanding of its syntax, units, and best practices. It will help you to be efficient in handling differences in dates. To have a solid understanding of its applications, you need to experiment with various scenarios.
Q1. Why doesn’t DATEDIF appear in Excel’s function list or autocomplete suggestions?
DATEDIF doesn’t show up in the list of Excel functions or when you use autocomplete because it is an old and hidden function in Excel. The application was built to be used together with Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets. Although it works in the latest version of Excel, Microsoft has chosen not to officially include it in its function library or suggest it automatically.
Q2. What happens if I use an invalid unit in the DATEDIF function?
If you enter a unit that is incorrect or does not support the DATEDIF function, Excel will return a #VALUE! Error.
Q3. Can DATEDIF be used across different time zones or regional formats?
You can use date formats like yyyy-mm-dd, which that ensure your date errors in Excel are avoided because of regional variations.
Q4. Is it possible to use DATEDIF to include both years and months in a single result?
DATEDIF delivers one unit of time at a time, or you can add “Y” with “YM” to display results as “Years and Months.”
Q5. What should I do if DATEDIF returns a negative value or error?
You should use IF() if DATEDIF returns a negative value error.