Description
The Microsoft Excel FORMAT function takes a date expression and returns it as a formatted string.
Syntax
The syntax for the FORMAT function in Microsoft Excel is:
Format ( expression, [ format, [ firstdayofweek, [firstweekofyear] ] ] )
Parameters or Arguments
- expression
- The date value to format.
- format
- Optional. It is the format to apply to the expression. You can either define your own format or use one of the named formats that Excel has predefined such as:
Format Explanation General Date Displays date based on your system settings Long Date Displays date based on your system's long date setting Medium Date Displays date based on your system's medium date setting Short Date Displays date based on your system's short date setting Long Time Displays time based on your system's long time setting Medium Time Displays time based on your system's medium time setting Short Time Displays time based on your system's short time setting - firstdayofweek
- Optional. It is a value that specifies the first day of the week. If this parameter is omitted, it assumes that Sunday is the first day of the week. This parameter can be one of the following values:
Constant Value Explanation vbUseSystem 0 Uses the NLS API setting VbSunday 1 Sunday (default, if parameter is omitted) vbMonday 2 Monday vbTuesday 3 Tuesday vbWednesday 4 Wednesday vbThursday 5 Thursday vbFriday 6 Friday vbSaturday 7 Saturday - firstweekofyear
- Optional. It is a value that specifies the first week of the year. If this parameter is omitted, it assumes that the week that contains January 1 is the first week of the year. This parameter can be one of the following values:
Constant Value Explanation vbUseSystem 0 Uses the NLS API setting vbFirstJan1 1 The week that contains January 1 vbFirstFourDays 2 The first week that has at least 4 days in the year vbFirstFullWeek 3 The first full week of the year
Applies To
- Excel 2016, Excel 2013, Excel 2011 for Mac, Excel 2010, Excel 2007, Excel 2003, Excel XP, Excel 2000
Type of Function
- VBA function (VBA)
Example (as VBA Function)
The FORMAT function can only be used in VBA code in Microsoft Excel.
Let's look at some Excel FORMAT function examples and explore how to use the FORMAT function in Excel VBA code:
Format(#17/04/2004#, "Short Date") Result: '17/04/2004' Format(#17/04/2004#, "Long Date") Result: 'April 17, 2004' Format(#17/04/2004#, "yyyy/mm/dd") Result: '2004/04/17'
For example:
Dim LValue As String LValue = Format(Date, "yyyy/mm/dd")
In this example, the variable called LValue would now contain the date formatted as yyyy/mm/dd.
