Convert General to Date format

[SimonHughes]

Hello, I have downloaded some data but the dates, shown as 02/02/2017 etc are formatted as "general".
Is there a way to change this to "short date" format?

Many thanks

 

[Fluff]

You can use Text to columns to convert them to real dates.
Select the column of dates, text to columns, delimited, next, clear all check boxes, next, against date select the format the dates are in (not the format you use), finish.

 

[Joe4]

If they show as "02/02/2017", even when they are formatted as General, it means that the entries are actually Text, and not valid Date entries.
You can convert them to Dates by selecting the column, going to "Text to Columns" (found on the Data menu), going to the third step and select the Date radio button with the appropriate order of the date (either MDY or DMY; I cannot tell from your example whether month comes first or day comes first), then clicking Finish.

After this, your values will probably appear as large integers. This is how Excel stores dates (the number of days since 1/0/1900).
Just change the column to your "Short Date" format, and you should be all set.

 

[SimonHughes]

If they show as "02/02/2017", even when they are formatted as General, it means that the entries are actually Text, and not valid Date entries.
You can convert them to Dates by selecting the column, going to "Text to Columns" (found on the Data menu), going to the third step and select the Date radio button with the appropriate order of the date (either MDY or DMY; I cannot tell from your example whether month comes first or day comes first), then clicking Finish.

After this, your values will probably appear as large integers. This is how Excel stores dates (the number of days since 1/0/1900).
Just change the column to your "Short Date" format, and you should be all set.

Thanks for the answer, dates are DMY. The text to columns function is splitting the data into three columns so I am a bit perplexed.

 

[Joe4]

Thanks for the answer, dates are DMY. The text to columns function is splitting the data into three columns so I am a bit perplexed.

It sounds like you are choosing "/" as the delimiter. We don't actually want the data split in this case, so we don't want to do this.
Choose something else that is NOT found in the data for your delimiter, like a comma.

 

[Fluff]

The text to columns function is splitting the data into three columns

That suggests you did not clear all the checkboxes on page two of the wizard. It also suggests you have something other than the dates in that column.