Determining the Name of the Day of the Week

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated January 2, 2014)

You probably already know that you can use the WEEKDAY function to return a numeric representation of the day of the week. For instance, the following returns the weekday number for whatever date is in cell A7:

=weekday(A7)

The numeric value can be helpful, but what you really might want is to have a name for the day of the week, such as Monday, Tuesday, etc. In this case you need to use the TEXT function to find out the answer:

=text(A7, "dddd")

The TEXT function returns a text string that is formatted according to whatever you specify in the second parameter. In this case the parameter is "dddd", which means "give me the full weekday." Provided the value in cell A7 is a real date, the function returns the desired name of the day of the week for that date.

You can get different variations of the day of the week by changing the format string used with the TEXT function. For instance, if you wanted only the three-letter day of the week, you could use the following:

=text(A7, "ddd")

This returns Mon, Tue, Wed, etc. If you make the format string even shorter (such as "d" or "dd") you no longer get days of the week, but instead get numeric days of the month.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He  is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Word's Object Model

Understanding Word's Object Model and how it relates to macros in VBA.

Discover More

Columns in a Text Box

Want to divide a text box into columns? Word doesn't allow you to do this, but there are ways to work around the limitation.

Discover More

Viewing Formulas in Table Cells

Word allows you to insert simple formulas, using fields, in table cells. If you want to see these formulas in their entirety, ...

Discover More
More DriveTips

Controlling Display of the Formula Bar

The formula bar is where you can see exactly what is stored in a spreadsheet cell. If you would rather hide the formula bar, ...

Discover More

Searching for a Term in Sheets

Got a need to search the web for more information on something within a spreadsheet? Believe it or not, Sheets provides a ...

Discover More

Using Find and Replace in a Spreadsheet

As your spreadsheets get larger, it can be hard to find some information. You may also want to replace some existing ...

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 8 - 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2017 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.