Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Changing Excel's Starting Date.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 27, 2026)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
Excel allows you to choose which arbitrary date you use as the beginning point for date and time serial numbers. In the PC world, the default date is January 1, 1900. If you are working with Excel workbooks imported from the Macintosh environment, however, you will want to set the starting date to January 2, 1904—the default date used on the Mac.
To set which of these two dates is used, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Advanced options of the Excel Options dialog box.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6249) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Changing Excel's Starting Date.
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2026-04-28 10:45:26
J. Woolley
@jamies
Please review Step 3 of the Tip: "...When Calculating this Workbook. (See Figure 1.)"
2026-04-27 05:24:30
jamies
And -
is there any way to have that applied to a workbook, and used for that workbook whenever it is being processed,
rather than having the Excel settings adjusted for all files opened after the OPTIONS setting is changed,
or the first file opened in a session was one saved with that setting in force when it was opened ?
And, for the ActiveWorkbook pointer,
thanks to J. Woolley
2021-11-06 11:48:15
J. Woolley
This can also be changed using Workbook property Date1904. For example:
ActiveWorkbook.Date1904 = False -- use PC default
ActiveWorkbook.Date1904 = True -- use Macintosh default
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here:
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