How to calculate difference between two dates in excel

General
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how to calculate difference between two dates in excel

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How to calculate the difference between two dates in Excel

Answer:
Calculating the difference between two dates in Excel is a commonly used feature, especially in tracking durations or calculating age. There are several methods to achieve this:

  1. Subtracting dates directly: You can subtract an earlier date from a later date to get the difference.

    For example, if you have the start date in cell A2 and the end date in cell B2, you can use the formula =B2-A2 to get the difference in days.

  2. DATEDIF function: Excel has a useful function called DATEDIF for calculating the difference between two dates. The syntax for DATEDIF is =DATEDIF(start_date, end_date, unit).

    For example, if you want to calculate the difference in months between two dates in cells A2 and B2, you can use the formula =DATEDIF(A2, B2, "M").

  3. YEARFRAC function: Another way to calculate the difference between two dates is by using the YEARFRAC function. This function returns the number of years between two dates.

    You can use the formula =YEARFRAC(start_date, end_date) to calculate the difference in years between two dates.

  4. DATEDIF alternative for Excel 2016 and later: In Excel 2016 and later versions, the DATEDIF function might not be available. As an alternative, you can use the following array formula to calculate the difference in days: =MAX(IF(B2:A2<>"", B2:A2)) - MIN(IF(B2:A2<>"", B2:A2)).

By utilizing these functions and methods, you can effectively calculate the difference between two dates in Excel for a variety of purposes, from simple date calculations to more advanced date-based analysis.