
This happens when the date has a time part as well but it’s formatted to only show the date. The date looks the same, but the result says FALSE. In the above example, look at row #5 and #7.
EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN HOW TO
Now that we have a better understanding of dates and time values are handled in the Excel backend, let’s see how to compare two dates in Excel. For example, if you enter in a cell in Excel, this would be treated as a text string and not as a valid date format. This is also the reason that not all date formats are acceptable formats in Excel. This allows users to use these dates and times in calculations. In a nutshell, dates and time values are stored as numbers in the backend, that are formatted to show as dates and time. So if I have the value 44562.5 in a cell, this would represent at 12:00 PM. Similarly, time is stored as decimal values, where 0.5 would represent 12 hours and 0.75 would represent 18 hours. Similarly, 44562, would represent (which means that 44562 days have passed between and ). The dates in Excel start from, which means that the value 1, when formatted as a date, would show you 01-01-1900 as the date in the cell in Excel. This is important, so if you don’t know this already, don’t skip this section (I will keep it short).ĭates are stored as whole numbers in the backend in Excel, and time values are stored as decimal values. How does Excel Stores Dates in the Cells?īefore I get into how you can compare two dates in Excel, let me first explain how date and time values are stored in Excel. Operators You Can Use When Comparing Dates in Excel.Compare Dates Using IF Formula (Greater Less/Less Than).

Check Whether the Dates are the Same or Not.How does Excel Stores Dates in the Cells?.
