When working with dates in Excel, the YEAR function is incredibly useful. It allows us to extract the year component from a date, making it essential for financial analysis, reporting, and data manipulation. In this article, I’ll walk you through how the YEAR function in Excel works and provide some of the best examples of how to use it effectively.
What is the YEAR function?
The YEAR function in Excel is designed to return the year from a given date. It extracts only the year as a four-digit number (e.g., 2023) while ignoring the month and day. This function is useful when analyzing trends over time, handling financial data, or simply formatting dates for better readability.
YEAR function syntax
The syntax of the YEAR function is straightforward:
=YEAR(serial_number)- serial_number – This is the date from which Excel will extract the year. It must be a valid Excel date.
Dates in Excel are stored as serial numbers, where January 1, 1900, is represented as 1, January 2, 1900, as 2, and so on. This means that even if your date is formatted as “01/01/2024,” under the hood, it is stored as a numeric value.
Basic example of the YEAR function
Let’s take a simple example. Suppose we have the date March 15, 2024 stored in cell A1:
=YEAR(A1)The result will be:
2024Using the YEAR function with different date formats
The YEAR function works regardless of how a date is formatted. Consider the following:
| Original Date | Excel Stored Value | YEAR Function Result |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Jan-2020 | 43831 | 2020 |
| 15-Dec-2023 | 45226 | 2023 |
| 30-Jul-2015 | 42229 | 2015 |
Best use cases for the YEAR function
The YEAR function is widely used in various scenarios. Here are some common use cases:
1. Extracting the year for reporting
When analyzing large datasets, you may need to filter or group data by year. By extracting the year, you can easily categorize and summarize your reports.
2. Determining leap years
To check if a given year is a leap year, you can use the following formula:
=IF(MOD(YEAR(A1),4)=0, "Leap Year", "Not a Leap Year")This formula checks if the year in A1 is divisible by 4, which is a basic rule for leap years.
3. Calculating age based on birth year
If you have a date of birth and want to calculate someone’s age, you can use:
=YEAR(TODAY()) - YEAR(A1)Here, TODAY() returns the current date, and the YEAR function extracts both the birth year and the current year to perform a simple subtraction.
Common errors and how to fix them
Let’s look at some typical errors when using the YEAR function and how to resolve them.
#VALUE! error
This error occurs when the argument is not a valid date. For example, using =YEAR("Hello") will return #VALUE! because “Hello” is not a date.
Wrong output due to text formatting
Sometimes, dates in Excel are stored as text, which can cause issues. If YEAR(A1) doesn’t return the expected result, check if the cell is recognized as a date:
=ISNUMBER(A1)If this returns FALSE, the value in A1 is stored as text. Converting it into a valid date format will solve the issue.
Combining YEAR with other functions
The YEAR function becomes even more powerful when combined with other Excel functions.
Extracting years from a range of dates
If you have a column of dates and want to extract only the years, you can use:
=ARRAYFORMULA(YEAR(A1:A10))(This works in Google Sheets or Excel 365/Excel Online’s dynamic arrays.)
Using YEAR in conditional formatting
You can highlight rows based on the year using conditional formatting. Suppose you want to highlight rows where the year is 2023, use the formula in the conditional formatting rule:
=YEAR(A1)=2023Conclusion
The YEAR function in Excel is a straightforward yet powerful tool for date-based calculations. Whether you’re categorizing data, determining leap years, calculating ages, or using it for reporting, mastering this function can significantly enhance your productivity. By understanding how Excel stores dates and combining the YEAR function with other functions, you can perform smarter and more efficient data analysis.
Other interesting article:
How TODAY works in Excel? Best TODAY examples