WEEKDAY and WORKDAY in Excel - Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

These two functions help you work with dates easily. WEEKDAY tells you the day of the week for any date. WORKDAY helps you find a date after adding working days, skipping weekends and holidays.

When you want to know if a date falls on a Monday, Tuesday, or any other day.

When planning a project and you need to find the end date after a certain number of workdays.

When calculating deadlines that skip weekends and holidays.

When you want to highlight weekends or weekdays in a calendar.

When scheduling tasks only on business days.

Steps

Step 1: Click

- a blank cell where you want the result

The cell is selected and ready for input

Step 2: Type

- the formula bar

The formula appears in the cell and formula bar

💡 For WEEKDAY, type =WEEKDAY(date) where date is a cell with a date or a date in quotes like "2024-06-01"

Step 3: Press

- Enter key

The cell shows a number from 1 to 7 representing the day of the week

Step 4: Type

- the formula bar

The formula appears in the cell and formula bar

💡 For WORKDAY, type =WORKDAY(start_date, days, [holidays]) where start_date is the starting date, days is how many workdays to add, and holidays is an optional range of dates to skip

Step 5: Press

- Enter key

The cell shows the date after adding the workdays, skipping weekends and holidays

Before vs After

Before

Cell A1 has date 2024-06-01 (Saturday), no formula

After

Cell B1 with =WEEKDAY(A1) shows 7 (Saturday), Cell C1 with =WORKDAY(A1, 3) shows 2024-06-06 (Thursday) skipping weekend

Settings Reference

Return type for WEEKDAY

📍 Second argument in WEEKDAY function, e.g., =WEEKDAY(date, return_type)

Controls which day is counted as the first day of the week

Default: 1

Holidays argument in WORKDAY

📍 Third argument in WORKDAY function, e.g., =WORKDAY(start_date, days, holidays)

Dates to exclude from workdays besides weekends

Default: Empty

Common Mistakes

Using WORKDAY without considering holidays

The result may include holidays as workdays, giving wrong dates

Add a holiday range as the third argument to skip those dates

Confusing WEEKDAY return types

You might think Monday is 1 but get Sunday as 1 instead

Specify the return_type argument to match your week start preference

Entering dates as text without proper format

Excel may not recognize the date and formulas give errors

Enter dates using date format or use DATE function like =DATE(2024,6,1)

Summary

WEEKDAY returns a number for the day of the week from a date.

WORKDAY calculates a future or past date counting only workdays, skipping weekends and holidays.

Remember to use the optional arguments to customize results for your needs.

Practice

1. What does the Excel function =WEEKDAY(A1) return when A1 contains a date?

easy

A. The date of the next workday after the date in A1

B. A number representing the day of the week for the date in A1

C. The total number of workdays in the month of A1

D. The name of the day (like Monday) for the date in A1

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand WEEKDAY function purpose

   The WEEKDAY function returns a number from 1 to 7 representing the day of the week for a given date.

2. Step 2: Apply to cell A1

   Since A1 contains a date, =WEEKDAY(A1) returns the day number of that date.

3. Final Answer:

   A number representing the day of the week for the date in A1 -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   WEEKDAY = day number [OK]

Hint: WEEKDAY gives day number, not name or date [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking WEEKDAY returns the day name
• Confusing WEEKDAY with WORKDAY
• Expecting a date instead of a number

2. Which of these is the correct syntax to find the next workday after the date in cell B2, excluding weekends?

easy

A. =WORKDAY(B2, 1)

B. =WORKDAY(B2 + 1)

C. =WEEKDAY(B2, 1)

D. =WORKDAY(B2, "next")

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall WORKDAY syntax

   WORKDAY(start_date, days) returns the date after adding 'days' workdays to start_date, skipping weekends.

2. Step 2: Apply to find next workday

   To find the next workday after B2, add 1 workday: =WORKDAY(B2, 1) is correct syntax.

3. Final Answer:

   =WORKDAY(B2, 1) -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   WORKDAY(date, 1) = next workday [OK]

Hint: WORKDAY needs two arguments: date and days [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using WORKDAY with only one argument
• Confusing WEEKDAY with WORKDAY
• Passing text like "next" instead of a number

3. If cell C3 contains the date 2024-06-14 (a Friday), what will =WORKDAY(C3, 3) return?

medium

A. 2024-06-17 (Monday)

B. 2024-06-18 (Tuesday)

C. 2024-06-20 (Thursday)

D. 2024-06-19 (Wednesday)

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify start date and days to add

   Start date is 2024-06-14 (Friday). We add 3 workdays, skipping weekends.

2. Step 2: Count workdays skipping weekend

   Adding 1 workday: Monday 2024-06-17
   Adding 2 workdays: Tuesday 2024-06-18
   Adding 3 workdays: Wednesday 2024-06-19

3. Final Answer:

   2024-06-19 (Wednesday) -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   WORKDAY adds days skipping weekends [OK]

Hint: Count only weekdays, skip Sat & Sun [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Counting weekend days as workdays
• Adding days directly without WORKDAY
• Confusing date formats

4. The formula =WORKDAY(A1, 5, {"2024-06-19"}) returns an error. What is the likely cause?

medium

A. WORKDAY does not accept a third argument

B. The days argument cannot be a positive number

C. The holidays argument must be a range, not an array of text strings

D. The date in A1 is invalid

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand WORKDAY holiday argument

   The third argument for WORKDAY is a range or array of dates, not text strings in quotes.

2. Step 2: Identify error cause

   Using {"2024-06-19"} passes a text string, not a date value, causing an error.

3. Final Answer:

   The holidays argument must be a range, not an array of text strings -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Holidays must be date values, not text [OK]

Hint: Holidays must be date cells or date arrays, not text [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Passing holiday dates as text strings
• Ignoring the third argument format
• Assuming WORKDAY only takes two arguments

5. You want to find the weekday number of the date that is 10 workdays after 2024-06-01, excluding weekends and the holiday 2024-06-12. Which formula correctly does this?

hard

A. =WEEKDAY(WORKDAY("2024-06-01", 10, DATE(2024,6,12)))

B. =WORKDAY(WEEKDAY("2024-06-01"), 10, DATE(2024,6,12))

C. =WEEKDAY(WORKDAY("2024-06-01", 10, {"2024-06-12"}))

D. =WORKDAY("2024-06-01", 10, "2024-06-12")

Solution

1. Step 1: Calculate date 10 workdays after 2024-06-01 excluding holiday

   Use WORKDAY with start date, days, and holiday as DATE(2024,6,12) to get correct date.

2. Step 2: Find weekday number of that date

   Wrap WORKDAY result inside WEEKDAY to get the day number.

3. Final Answer:

   =WEEKDAY(WORKDAY("2024-06-01", 10, DATE(2024,6,12))) -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   WORKDAY then WEEKDAY for weekday number [OK]

Hint: Use WORKDAY first, then WEEKDAY to get day number [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Passing holiday as text instead of DATE function
• Using WEEKDAY inside WORKDAY incorrectly
• Ignoring holidays in WORKDAY