Converting dates to text in Excel is necessary when you need dates in a specific plain text format for mail merges, report headers, concatenated strings, or CSV exports.
Method 1: TEXT Function
=TEXT(A2, "DD/MM/YYYY")
The TEXT function converts a date value to a formatted text string. Common format codes: DD (two-digit day), MM (two-digit month), YYYY (four-digit year), MMM (abbreviated month name Jan-Dec), MMMM (full month name).
Method 2: Concatenating Dates with Text
="Report as of "&TEXT(TODAY(),"DD MMMM YYYY")
Always wrap dates in TEXT() before concatenating with & — otherwise Excel converts the date to its numeric serial number (e.g. 45306) instead of a readable date string.
Method 3: Power Query
In Power Query, select the date column, go to Transform, then Date, then to Text. This converts an entire column of dates to text strings in one step with full control over the output format.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my date show as a number when I concatenate it?
Excel dates are stored as serial numbers internally — January 1, 1900 is 1 and each subsequent day increments by 1. When you concatenate a date directly with text, Excel uses the raw serial number. Use TEXT(A2,”DD/MM/YYYY”) to produce a human-readable string before concatenating.
What format code gives me the full month name?
Use MMMM for the full month name (January, February, etc.) or MMM for the abbreviated form (Jan, Feb, etc.). For example: =TEXT(A2, “D MMMM YYYY”) produces “15 January 2024”.