How to Use YEAR Function in Excel: Extract Year from Date

Use the YEAR function in Excel to get the year part from a date. Enter =YEAR(date) where date is a cell with a date or a date value, and Excel returns the year as a number.

Syntax

The YEAR function extracts the year from a date value.

• date: The date from which you want to get the year. This can be a cell reference containing a date or a date value.

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=YEAR(date)

Example

This example shows how to extract the year from a date in cell A1. If A1 contains 12/25/2023, the formula returns 2023.

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=YEAR(A1)

Output

2023

Common Pitfalls

Common mistakes include:

• Using text that looks like a date but is not recognized as a date by Excel. The YEAR function will return an error or wrong result.
• Passing a number that is not a valid date serial number.
• Forgetting to use a valid date format in the cell.

Correct usage requires the input to be a valid Excel date.

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=YEAR("2023-12-25")  <em>Correct usage with date string recognized by Excel</em>
=YEAR("Not a date")  <em>Wrong usage, returns error</em>

Quick Reference

Function	Description	Example	Result
YEAR(date)	Extracts year from date	=YEAR("1/1/2024")	2024
YEAR(A1)	Extracts year from date in cell A1	A1=7/4/2022	2022

Key Takeaways

Use YEAR(date) to get the year number from a valid date in Excel.

Ensure the input is a valid date, not just text that looks like a date.

YEAR returns a four-digit year as a number.

You can use YEAR with cell references or date values directly.

Common errors happen when the input is not recognized as a date.