How to Use EDATE in Excel: Add or Subtract Months from Dates

Use the EDATE function in Excel to add or subtract a specific number of months from a given date. The syntax is EDATE(start_date, months), where start_date is the original date and months is the number of months to add (positive) or subtract (negative).

Syntax

The EDATE function has two parts:

• start_date: The date you want to start from.
• months: The number of months to add (use a positive number) or subtract (use a negative number).

The function returns a new date that is the specified number of months before or after the start_date.

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EDATE(start_date, months)

Example

This example shows how to add 3 months to the date in cell A1 and subtract 2 months from the date in cell A2.

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A1: 2024-01-15
A2: 2024-06-10

B1: =EDATE(A1, 3)
B2: =EDATE(A2, -2)

Output

B1: 2024-04-15
B2: 2024-04-10

Common Pitfalls

Common mistakes when using EDATE include:

• Entering the start_date as text without converting it to a date format, which causes errors.
• Using a non-integer value for months, which Excel rounds down.
• Not formatting the result cell as a date, so the output shows as a number.

Always ensure your dates are valid Excel dates and format the result cells as dates.

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Wrong: =EDATE("January 15, 2024", 3)  (if cell is not date formatted)
Right: =EDATE(DATE(2024,1,15), 3)

Quick Reference

Parameter	Description
start_date	The original date to start from
months	Number of months to add (positive) or subtract (negative)
Return	A date shifted by the specified months

Key Takeaways

Use EDATE to add or subtract whole months from a date easily.

The start_date must be a valid Excel date for EDATE to work correctly.

Positive months add months; negative months subtract months.

Format the result cell as a date to see the output properly.

Avoid entering dates as plain text to prevent errors.