Adding a Calendar to a Worksheet

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 7, 2020)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365


Bruce would like to know if there is a simple way of inserting a standard calendar into a spreadsheet so that dates can be easily selected. Fortunately, there are a couple of ways you can implement calendars.

Excel includes a built-in calendar control, but you need to be aware that the support for the calendar control has been a bit spotty between versions. In other words, you may implement the control in Excel 2007, but that same control may not work properly in Excel 2010 or later versions. Backwards compatibility between versions may be questionable, as well. (Why? Only Microsoft knows, and they are not saying.)

Even so, here's how you can insert the built-in calendar control, in this case in an Excel 2010 worksheet. (I really wouldn't try this in a later version of Excel; you more than likely won't be happy with the results.)

  1. Display the Developer tab of the ribbon.
  2. Click the Insert tool, in the Controls group. Excel displays a palette of different controls you can insert.
  3. Click the More Controls option, which is the control at the very bottom-right of the options, under ActiveX Controls. Excel displays the More Controls dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The More Controls dialog box.

  5. Scroll through the list of available controls and choose Microsoft Date and Time Picker Control.
  6. Click OK. The dialog box closes, and the mouse pointer becomes a crosshair.
  7. Click at the upper-left of where you want the control to appear and drag the mouse to the lower-right corner. When you release the mouse button, the control appears on the screen.
  8. Click the Properties tool in the Controls group. (The Developer tab of the ribbon should still be visible.) Excel displays the Properties dialog box for the control.
  9. Click the Linked Cell property and change it to the address of the cell you want linked to the control.
  10. Close the Properties dialog box.
  11. Click the Design Mode tool in the Controls group.

At this point the Date Picker control should be active in your workbook. Click on the down-arrow at the right of it and you'll see a calendar with which you can select a date. When you leave the control (by clicking someplace else on the worksheet), the linked cell (step 8) is changed to reflect the date you selected using the control.

You may notice some funky behavior with the Date Picker control, even in Excel 2010. When I first added it to my worksheet and turned off Design Mode, Excel displayed an active control in the upper-left corner of the worksheet and a non-active control at the point where I drew the control. (It happened on two different machines using both Excel 2007 and Excel 2010.) I had to hop back into Design Mode (at which point the control in upper-left corner of the worksheet disappeared), click the control I drew to select it, and then stretch it to be very large. When I turned off Design Mode, the spurious copy of the control at the upper left of the worksheet was gone and I could use the version I drew just fine. Strange behavior, indeed—and part of the frustration of working with Microsoft's calendar controls.

If you are using Excel 2013 or a later version, there is a very good chance that the Date Picker control won't be on your system. (It isn't with all later versions of Excel, but if you have some of the higher-priced versions that include Access, it may be there.) If it is not on your system, you can try installing the correct control, but the process is not for the timid or faint of heart. And, besides, Bruce said he wanted something that allowed dates to be "easily selected," a definition which seems at odds with going through the convoluted steps necessary to install the correct control. If you would rather install it, you'll want to read the following web page carefully, even though it is quite old:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15816014/how-to-install-mscomct2-ocx-file-from-cab-file-excel-user-form-and-vba

Note that because the page is quote old, the link in the initial post to where you can download the control is no longer valid (you'll get a 404 error if you click on it). You can, however, simply do a web search for "mscomct2.ocx" and find places you can download it.

In addition, Ron de Bruin provides some good advice on installing and using date pickers in various versions of Excel, including this latest version:

http://www.rondebruin.nl/win/s8/win003.htm

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (13254) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Fixing Mismatched Bullets and Numbers

When you format bulleted lists or numbered lists, you may be surprised if some of the bullets or numbers don't match the ...

Discover More

Displaying Edits by Date

Track Changes is a great tool; it allows you to see what changes were made in a document and then determine whether you ...

Discover More

Detecting Hidden Rows

Excel allows you to easily hide rows in a worksheet, so their contents are not visible. Figuring out how to detect where ...

Discover More

Program Successfully in Excel! John Walkenbach's name is synonymous with excellence in deciphering complex technical topics. With this comprehensive guide, "Mr. Spreadsheet" shows how to maximize your Excel experience using professional spreadsheet application development tips from his own personal bookshelf. Check out Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Changing Macro Cell References Based on Edits

Place a cell reference in a macro, modify the structure of your worksheet, and you may soon find that the cell reference ...

Discover More

Continuing Macro Lines

Sometimes a macro command line can get very, very long. This can make it hard to understand when you look at it a month ...

Discover More

Quickly Dumping Array Contents

Variable arrays are used quite often in macros. If you use an array once in your macro and then need to reuse it for ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is seven minus 7?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

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.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.