Problem with DATEVALUE() function. I have used the DATEVALUE() function in past

Question

Problem with DATEVALUE() function.

I have used the DATEVALUE() function in past versions of Excel, but I attempted today to use it with the the Office 2011 version and it returns #VALUE! In case I was using it wrong, I copied and pasted an example from the Excel help, and still have the same problem. If I type:

=DATEVALUE("8/22/2008")

#VALUE! is still returned. I have the most recent update of Office@2011 for Mac installed. Can anyone help with this, or is it just a bug that I should report to Microsoft??? It wwould bbe helpful to know if it occurs for others as well.   

Explanation / Answer

Are your System Preferences set to m/d/y or d/m/y? XL takes its default date input format from System Preferences.

DATEVALUE() will return #VALUE! with that string if System Preferences are set to d/m/y, since there's no 22nd month. If that's the problem then it should work fine with =DATEVALUE("22/8/2008").

Note that if you change Sysstem Preferencees you'll need toc close and restart XL, since it only reads the format on startusp.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse P
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.