This tutorial demonstrates how to use the Excel YEAR Function in Excel to return the year from a date.

YEAR Function Overview

The YEAR Function Returns the year of a date.

To use the YEAR Excel Worksheet Function, Select cell and Type:

(Notice how the formula input appear)

YEAR Function syntax and Inputs:

serial_number – The date in Excel serial number format or entered as a date with quotations (“s) surround the date. Example: You can not enter 11/12/2015 directly into the cell. Instead you need to enter “11/12/2015” or you would need to use the corresponding serial number: 42320. Alternatively, you can reference a cell with the date 11/12/2015 entered. Excel automatically converts dates stored in cells into serial format (unless the date is entered as text).

 

YEAR Examples

The YEAR Function returns the year of a date:

YEAR and MONTH Functions

Using the DATE and YEAR Functions you can build a new date using the same year as the original date:

First Day of Year

Using the same logic as the previous example, we can use the YEAR and DATE functions to reference the first day of the year:

YEAR in Google Sheets

The YEAR Function works exactly the same in Google Sheets as in Excel:

YEAR Examples in VBA

You can also use the YEAR function in VBA. Type:
application.worksheetfunction.year(serial_number)
For the function arguments (serial_number, etc.), you can either enter them directly into the function, or define variables to use instead.

Return to the List of all Functions in Excel