Date format only month and year?

Hi Megan & Lance,

 

Thanks Lance, I was a bit sloppy in my response.

 

Spreadsheet dates always refer to an exact moment in time, and thus include the day number in addition to the month and year. The usual way to refer to a month is to give the first day of that month, as in 2022-02-01 or 02/01/2022 when you want to to refer to February 2022.

 

When you enter a value that looks like a date, Google Sheets will automatically convert it to a date, and will allow for some flexibility in the date format, making an educated guess as to which date you are referring to. The spreadsheet locale and the format of the value have an effect on how values get converted to dates.

 

In the United States locale:

See this message for a more technical explanation of how date and time values work in spreadsheets.

Cheers --Hyde

We should point out that if you type only the characters 02/22, (no quote marks ever in a date), what Sheets thinks you mean is Feb 22 - and it fills in the current year, 2022.  This is fine if you always want the current year, but if want a date in 2023 and try 02/23 you'll get Feb 23, 2022 which is not what you intended. 

 

To avoid ambiguity in your data entry, always include a full Month Day and Year. With a complete date entered, you can format any way you wish.

 

Or, use your shorthand 02/22 understanding that the 22 in that entry is the Day, not the Year

 

Right Hyde? 

 

Best,

Lance