5 Ways Excel DayOfWeek

Introduction to Day of the Week in Excel

When working with dates in Excel, it’s often necessary to determine the day of the week for a specific date. This can be useful for a variety of applications, such as scheduling, planning, and data analysis. Excel provides several ways to find the day of the week, and in this article, we’ll explore five different methods.

Method 1: Using the WEEKDAY Function

The WEEKDAY function is a built-in Excel function that returns the day of the week as a number, where Sunday is 1 and Saturday is 7. The syntax for the WEEKDAY function is: WEEKDAY(serial_number, [return_type]). The serial_number argument is the date for which you want to find the day of the week, and the [return_type] argument is optional and specifies the return type. For example, if you want to find the day of the week for the date 1/1/2022, you can use the formula: =WEEKDAY(A1), assuming the date is in cell A1.

Method 2: Using the TEXT Function

The TEXT function is another way to find the day of the week in Excel. This function formats a number as text according to a specified format. To find the day of the week using the TEXT function, you can use the following formula: =TEXT(A1,“dddd”), where A1 is the cell containing the date. This formula will return the full day of the week, such as “Monday” or “Tuesday”.

Method 3: Using the DATEPART Function in VBA

If you’re working with VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) in Excel, you can use the DATEPART function to find the day of the week. The DATEPART function returns a specified part of a date, such as the day, month, or year. To find the day of the week, you can use the following formula: =DATEPART(“w”, A1), where A1 is the cell containing the date.

Method 4: Using a Formula with the MOD Function

You can also use a formula with the MOD function to find the day of the week. This formula works by finding the remainder of the division of the date by 7, which corresponds to the day of the week. The formula is: =MOD(A1-2,7)+1, where A1 is the cell containing the date. This formula assumes that the date is in the format of a serial number.

Method 5: Using Power Query

Power Query is a powerful tool in Excel that allows you to import, transform, and analyze data. You can use Power Query to find the day of the week by adding a custom column to your data. To do this, go to the “Add Column” tab in Power Query, click on “Custom Column”, and enter the following formula: =Date.DayOfWeek([Date]), where [Date] is the column containing the dates.

💡 Note: These methods assume that the date is in a format that Excel can recognize. If your date is in a text format, you may need to convert it to a date format before using these methods.

In summary, there are several ways to find the day of the week in Excel, including using the WEEKDAY function, the TEXT function, the DATEPART function in VBA, a formula with the MOD function, and Power Query. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the best method for you will depend on your specific needs and preferences.

To illustrate the differences between these methods, consider the following table:

Method	Formula	Return Type
WEEKDAY Function	=WEEKDAY(A1)	Number (1-7)
TEXT Function	=TEXT(A1,“dddd”)	Text (full day of week)
DATEPART Function in VBA	=DATEPART(“w”, A1)	Number (1-7)
Formula with MOD Function	=MOD(A1-2,7)+1	Number (1-7)
Power Query	=Date.DayOfWeek([Date])	Number (0-6)

Ultimately, the key to choosing the right method is to consider the specific requirements of your project and to experiment with different approaches until you find the one that works best for you.

In the end, understanding how to find the day of the week in Excel can help you to become more efficient and effective in your work, and can open up new possibilities for data analysis and manipulation. Whether you’re working with dates, times, or other types of data, having a solid grasp of Excel’s functions and formulas can make all the difference in your ability to get the job done.