5 Excel Year Function Tips

Introduction to Excel Year Function

The Excel YEAR function is a date and time function that extracts the year from a given date. It’s a simple yet powerful tool that can be used in various data analysis and reporting tasks. In this article, we will explore 5 tips on how to use the Excel YEAR function effectively.

Tip 1: Extracting Year from a Date

The YEAR function takes a date as an input and returns the year as a four-digit number. The syntax for the YEAR function is: =YEAR(date). For example, if you have a date in cell A1, you can use the formula =YEAR(A1) to extract the year.

Tip 2: Using YEAR Function with Other Functions

The YEAR function can be combined with other functions to perform more complex tasks. For example, you can use the YEAR function with the MONTH function to extract both the year and month from a date. The formula =YEAR(A1)&“-”&MONTH(A1) will return a string in the format “yyyy-mm”.

Tip 3: Handling Errors with YEAR Function

When using the YEAR function, you may encounter errors if the input date is not valid. To handle such errors, you can use the IFERROR function to return a custom error message. For example, the formula =IFERROR(YEAR(A1),“Invalid date”) will return the string “Invalid date” if the input date is not valid.

Tip 4: Using YEAR Function with Arrays

The YEAR function can also be used with arrays to extract years from multiple dates. For example, if you have a range of dates in cells A1:A10, you can use the formula =YEAR(A1:A10) to extract the years from all the dates in the range.

Tip 5: Using YEAR Function with Conditional Formatting

The YEAR function can be used with conditional formatting to highlight cells based on the year. For example, you can use the formula =YEAR(A1)=2022 to highlight all cells in a range that contain dates in the year 2022.

📝 Note: When using the YEAR function, make sure to enter the date in a valid format, such as mm/dd/yyyy or yyyy-mm-dd.

Here is an example of how to use the YEAR function in a table:

Date	Year
2022-01-01	=YEAR(A2)
2023-02-01	=YEAR(A3)
2024-03-01	=YEAR(A4)

In summary, the Excel YEAR function is a useful tool for extracting years from dates. By combining it with other functions, handling errors, using it with arrays, and applying conditional formatting, you can perform a variety of tasks and analyze your data more effectively.