Create a custom date or time format. On the Home tab, click the Dialog Box Launcher next to Number. You can also press CTRL+1 to open the Format Cells dialog box. In the Category box, click Date or Time, and then choose the number format that is closest in style to the one you want to create.

Excel might format it as " 2-Feb". If you change your date setting in Control Panel, the default date format in Excel will change accordingly. If you don’t like the default date format, you can choose another date format in Excel, such as " February 2, 2012" or " 2/2/12".

For example, if you type a number that contains a slash mark (/) or hyphen (-), Excel may interpret it as a date and convert it to date format. If you want to type non-calculated values such as 10e5, 1 p, or 1-2, and you do not want Excel to convert the value to a built-in number format, you can apply the Text format to the cells, and then ...

Display numbers as dates or times. Enter data manually in worksheet cells. Examples of commonly used formulas. Dates are often a critical part of data analysis. Entering dates correctly is essential to ensuring accurate results.

Excel might format it as " 2-Feb". If you change your date setting in Control Panel, the default date format in Excel will change accordingly. If you don’t like the default date format, you can choose another date format in Excel, such as " February 2, 2012" or " 2/2/12".

Create and apply a custom number format. Number format codes. Display numbers as postal codes, Social Security numbers, or phone numbers. Use number formats to change the appearance of numbers, including dates and times, without changing the actual number.