Adjust Excel Date For Mac

In the picture below there are two worksheets. The one on the left, Date Test Windows.xlsx, was created in Excel 2007 (Windows) and the one on the right, Date Date Test Mac.xlsx, was created using Excel for Mac 2008. In column A of both worksheets I entered a series of dates from 1/1/2010 to 1/15/2010.

Note: I see several questions (, ) on this topic that describe how to accomplish this with the Windows version of Office, but I haven't found anything on Mac version of Office. I'm a US user, and I want to change the default date format of Excel to YYYY-MM-DD so that if I open an Excel sheet or a CSV file with dates, it displays this format in the column. (In the case of a CSV file, if the format is already YYYY-MM-DD, I don't want it switch to the default format). Password security software for mac. Alternatively, how can have this format show up as an option under Format Column -> Date -> US Dates? I end up having to switch my country to Belgium before I can find this option.

( @Microsoft -- I'm pretty sure in 2016, people in the US use the YYYY-MM-DD format; at least make it an option! It turns out that OS X's Language & Region 'Short' date format controls how dates appear in Excel. Turn on auto update for chrome mac. To modify how Excel formats ALL date columns by default to 'YYYY-MM-DD': • Go to OS X System Preferences -> Language & Region -> Advanced • Change the 'Short' date format by cutting-and-pasting the year to beginning • Change the separator character between the year, month, and date to -'s.

• Use the month and day fields' dropdown feature to select the zero-filled version (e.g., '01' if your current month is January). • Restart Excel for change to take affect.

Microsoft Excel has two different date systems that you will probably never think about because they exist in two different worlds: Windows or Mac. However, if you are sharing Excel files between Windows and Mac computers the potential exists for a great deal of confusion around dates. What is a Date System? Dates are represented in Excel by a numbering system. Days are assigned whole numbers, known as serial numbers, because the basic unit of time in Excel is the day.

Each date system has a base date, or starting date, represented by the number 1. The Windows date system has a starting date of January 1, 1900 that is given the serial number 1. The next day, January 2, is serial number 2, and so on.

The starting date in the Macintosh date system is January 2, 1904, which is given the serial number 1. The next day, January 3, is represented by serial number 2, etc. Default Date Systems for Windows and Mac The default workbook setting in Microsoft Excel 2010 is the 1900 date system.

In the Excel Options dialogue box you are given the option to Use the 1904 system, should you so desire. As you can see below, Microsoft Excel for Mac 2008 has the 1904 date system as the default workbook setting. By un-checking this option the workbook will use the 1900 date system.

Problems Mixing Excel Date Systems A major problem can occur if you copy or use a formula reference to dates from a workbook with one date system to a workbook with another date system. Since the two date systems use different base dates they show up as different formatted dates. Some explanation here would be helpful. Well known to Excel geeks, the serial number 40,000 is formatted as 7/6/2009 in the Windows 1900 date system.