Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 3, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365
Murali has a large worksheet that contains a variety of different formats. He would like to use conditional formatting to highlight cells that contain dates. He's at a loss, though, as to how to set up the conditional format correctly.
The problem is that Excel doesn't have a worksheet function that returns whether a particular cell contains a date or not. Fortunately, VBA includes such a function, IsDate. This means that you can create a very simple user-defined function to return True or False, depending on whether a cell contains a date:
Function MyIsDate(rCell As Range)
MyIsDate = IsDate(rCell)
End Function
You can then reference this function in a conditional formatting rule and adjust the formatting based on the results. Remember that this function returns True if the cell contains any date; it does not check for specific dates.
If, for some reason, you don't want to use a macro, you could try this slick little workaround: Set up a conditional formatting rule that relies on the results of a formula. The particular formula you should use is as follows:
=LEFT(CELL("format",A1))="D"
The formula returns the format code used for the cell. (In this case the cell is A1. Change this to reflect the cell you are actually testing.) If the first character of the format code is D, then the formula returns True. Excel uses various format codes that begin with D when you format a cell as a date.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11817) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365.
Dive Deep into Macros! Make Excel do things you thought were impossible, discover techniques you won't find anywhere else, and create powerful automated reports. Bill Jelen and Tracy Syrstad help you instantly visualize information to make it actionable. You’ll find step-by-step instructions, real-world case studies, and 50 workbooks packed with examples and solutions. Check out Microsoft Excel 2019 VBA and Macros today!
Want to know where duplicates are in a list of names? There are a couple of ways you can go about identifying the ...
Discover MoreConditional formatting allows you to change how information is displayed based on rules you define. What if you want to ...
Discover MoreExcel provides a great conditional formatting capability that allows you to change how a cell appears based on critiera ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2024-02-03 10:24:54
J. Woolley
The Tip's MyIsDate function works fine for cells with date or date-time but not for cells with time alone. My Excel Toolbox includes the following function returning TRUE if cells in Target include a date or time or both:
    =HasDateTime(Target,[AllCells])
If AllCells is False (default), the result is TRUE if ANY cell in Target represents a date/time; otherwise, the result is TRUE only if ALL cells in Target represent a date/time. AllCells applies only if Target includes more than one cell. Here is an abbreviated version for a single cell:
Function HasDateTime(Target As Range) As Boolean
    Dim V As Variant, S As String, B As Boolean
    V = Target.Value
    S = TypeName(V)
    B = (S = "Date")
    If Not (B Or S = "Boolean" Or S = "Empty" Or S = "Error") Then
        On Error Resume Next
            S = FormatDateTime(V)
            B = (Err = 0)
        On Error GoTo 0
        ' check for numeric standalone time (without date)
        If B And IsNumeric(V) Then B = (TimeValue(S) = S)
    End If
    HasDateTime = B
End Function
See https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox/
Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments