How do I convert text dates to proper format?

[Galena1]

They are text. This is how they appear when I view the cell A1:

Apr 17 2011

What I want is for them to appear as:

4/17/2011

when I view the cell A1

(Please Note: The cell A1 is then also custom formatted 'mmm d, yyyy'
to make 04/17/2011 appear as

Apr 17, 2011


I have hundreds of cells I need to fix scattered all over the worksheet, so I am looking for an automated or semi-automated solution.

Help anyone?
Thanks!

 

[barry houdini]

How scattered are they? You can use this for a single column of dates

Select column of dates then

Data > Text to columns > Next > Next > under "column data format" select "date" and "MDY" from dropdown > Finish

Now format as required

 

[Galena1]

Thanks Barry.
Worked like a charm.