Scrolling to insert dates

Question

I have a new PC with new Excel. I tried to insert a date then scroll down to show sequential dates (23.10. then 24.10, etc.) - this worked with every other excel that I have used over many years.

Now it is sequential, but shows years instead of days (23.10.18, 23.10.19, 23.10.21). How can I change this?

Also, I used to just delete multiple cell content by using the back arrow after clicking to include those I wanted to delete - now I have to use the right mouse click and go to delete which then asks me what action to take e.g. move cells over

Answer 1

Sorry - just back from vacation.

A string is text - entering 23.10.18 into a cell will result in Excel treating it as text, since that is not a standard date format.

If you enter the number 43332 into a cell formatted as general, and change the number of decimals, the display should change from 43332 to 43332.0  43332.00 etc.

But, if you apply a date format to the same cell, the date 8/20/2018 (or some variant of that) will be displayed. As you change the date format, the display will change.

If you enter the string 20.08.18 into a cell, and change the format, the display will not change, since that is a string and not a number. If you enter 8/20/18 into a cell, Excel converts that to the number 43332 (internally), which is the number of days since 12/31/1899.

Any string you enter that has a number at the end - for example, Bernie123 - will have the final number incremented with the cell is drag-filled to other cells Bernie124, Bernie 125, etc. That is why the 18 is changing to 19, 20, etc.

So, enter a valid date and you should be able to increment it by dragging...

Answer 2

Sorry - just back from vacation.

A string is text - entering 23.10.18 into a cell will result in Excel treating it as text, since that is not a standard date format.

If you enter the number 43332 into a cell formatted as general, and change the number of decimals, the display should change from 43332 to 43332.0  43332.00 etc.

But, if you apply a date format to the same cell, the date 8/20/2018 (or some variant of that) will be displayed. As you change the date format, the display will change.

If you enter the string 20.08.18 into a cell, and change the format, the display will not change, since that is a string and not a number. If you enter 8/20/18 into a cell, Excel converts that to the number 43332 (internally), which is the number of days since 12/31/1899.

Any string you enter that has a number at the end - for example, Bernie123 - will have the final number incremented with the cell is drag-filled to other cells Bernie124, Bernie 125, etc. That is why the 18 is changing to 19, 20, etc.

So, enter a valid date and you should be able to increment it by dragging...

thank you ... 

my excel number format is set at month.date.year, so I thought I was using a number format. 

I will try the / style date and see if that works. the 8.10.18 works on my excel on my old pc - that was what was driving me mad. I set all the default formats on my old pc, whereas the notebook formats were partly done by my pc salesman. it's like a foreign language --- use it or lose it. I can't keep all those small things in mind these days.

Answer 3

thank you. 

I tried it with a general format and with  various date formats - it always changed the year and not the date.

strings? sorry, I am a senior and am not familiar with what you mean. I entered 23.10.18, similar to what I've entered on my other pc … there it works. since I didn't set up this new notebook, I don't know whether there is some setting which causes this, but from what I have looked up under settings that should not be the case.

Answer 4

Are your dates actual dates and not strings? What is the formatting of the cell, and if you change the format does the display in the sheet change?