How to create a sequence of dates in Excel and auto fill date series

The tutorial shows how you can leverage the new SEQUENCE function to quickly generate a list of dates in Excel and use the AutoFill feature to fill a column with dates, workdays, months or years.

Until recently, there has been just one easy way to generate dates in Excel - the AutoFill feature. The introduction of the new dynamic array SEQUENCE function has made it possible to make a series of dates with a formula too. This tutorial takes an in-depth look at both methods so that you can choose the one that works best for you.

How to fill date series in Excel

When you need to fill a column with dates in Excel, the fastest way is to use the AutoFill feature.

Auto fill a date series in Excel

Filling a column or row with dates that increment by one day is very easy:

  1. Type the initial date in the first cell.
  2. Select the cell with the initial date and drag the fill handle (a small green square at the bottom-right corner) down or to the right.

Excel will immediately generate a series of dates in the same format as the first date that you typed manually.
Auto fill a date series in Excel.

Fill a column with weekdays, months or years

To create a series of workdays, months or years, do one of the following:

  • Fill a column with sequential dates as described above. After that, click the AutoFill Optionsbutton and pick the desired option, say Fill Months:
    Auto fill a series of months in Excel.
  • Or you can enter your first date, right-click the fill handle, hold and drag through as many cells as needed. When you release the mouse button, a context menu will pop-up letting you select the needed option, Fill Years in our case:
    Auto fill a series of years in Excel.

Fill a series of dates incrementing by N days

To auto generate a series of days, weekdays, months or years with a specific step, this is what you need to do:

  1. Enter the initial date in the first cell.
  2. Select that cell, right-click the fill handle, drag it through as many cells as needed, and then release.
  3. In the pop-up menu, choose Series (the last item).
  4. In the Series dialog box, select the Date unit of interest and set the Step value.
  5. Click OK.

Fill a series of dates with a specific step.

For more examples, please see How to insert and autofill dates in Excel.

How to make a date sequence in Excel with a formula

In one of the previous tutorials, we looked at how to use the new dynamic array SEQUENCE function to generate a number sequence. Because internally in Excel dates are stored as serial numbers, the function can easily produce a date series too. All you have to do is to correctly configure the arguments as explained in the following examples.

Note. All the formulas discussed here only work in the latest versions of Excel 365 that support dynamic arrays. In pre-dynamic Excel 2019, Excel 2016 and Excel 2013, please use the AutoFill feature as shown in the first part of this tutorial.

Create a series of dates in Excel

To generate a sequence of dates in Excel, set up the following arguments of the SEQUENCE function:

SEQUENCE(rows, [columns], [start], [step])
  • Rows - the number of rows to fill with dates.
  • Columns - the number of columns to fill with dates.
  • Start - the starting date in the format that Excel can understand, like "8/1/2020" or "1-Aug-2020". To avoid mistakes, you can supply the date by using the DATE function such as DATE(2020, 8, 1).
  • Step - the increment for each subsequent date in a sequence.

For example, to make a list of 10 dates starting with August 1, 2020 and increasing by 1 day, the formula is:

=SEQUENCE(10, 1, "8/1/2020", 1)

or

=SEQUENCE(10, 1, DATE(2020, 8, 1), 1)

Alternatively, you can input the number of dates (B1), start date (B2) and step (B3) in predefined cells and reference those cells in your formula. Since we are generating a list, the columns number (1) is hardcoded:

=SEQUENCE(B1, 1, B2, B3)

Type the below formula in the topmost cell (A6 in our case), press the Enter key, and the results will spill across the specified number of rows and columns automatically.
Creating a sequence of dates in Excel with a formula

Note. With the default General format, the results will appear as serial numbers. To have them displayed correctly, be sure to apply the Date format to all the cells in the spill range.

Make a series of workdays in Excel

To get a series of working days only, wrap SEQUENCE in the WORKDAY or WORKDAY.INTL function this way:

WORKDAY(start_date -1, SEQUENCE(no_of_days))

As the WORKDAY function adds the number of days specified in the second argument to the start date, we subtract 1 from it to have the start date itself included in the results.

For instance, to generate a sequence of workdays starting on the date in B2, the formula is:

=WORKDAY(B2-1, SEQUENCE(B1))

Where B1 is the sequence size.
Making a series of workdays in Excel with a formula

Tips and notes:

  • If a start date is Saturday or Sunday, the series will begin on the next working day.
  • The Excel WORKDAY function assumes Saturday and Sunday to be weekends. To configure custom weekends and holidays, use the WORKDAY.INTL function instead.

Generate a month sequence in Excel

To create a series of dates incremented by one month, you can use this generic formula:

DATE(year, SEQUENCE(12), day)

In this case, you put the target year in the 1st argument and day in the 3rd argument. For the 2nd argument, the SEQUENCE function returns sequential numbers from 1 to 12. Based on the above parameters, the DATE function produces a series of dates like shown in the left part of the screenshot below:

=DATE(2020, SEQUENCE(12), 1)

To display only the month names, set one of the below custom date formats for the spill range:

  • mmm - short form like Jan, Feb, Mar, etc.
  • mmmm - full form like January, February, March, etc.

As the result, only the month names will appear in cells, but the underlying values will still be full dates. In both series in the screenshot below, please notice the default right alignment typical for numbers and dates in Excel:
Generating a sequence of months in Excel

To generate a date sequence that increments by one month and starts with a specific date, use the SEQUENCE function together with EDATE:

EDATE(start_date, SEQUENCE(12, 1, 0))

The EDATE function returns a date that is the specified number of months before or after the start date. And the SEQUENCE function produces an array of 12 numbers (or as many as you specify) to force EDATE to move forward in one-month increments. Please notice that the start argument is set to 0, so that the start date gets included in the results.

With the start date in B1, the formula takes this shape:

=EDATE(B1, SEQUENCE(12, 1, 0))
Making a month series based on a specific start date

Note. After completing a formula, please remember to apply an appropriate date format to the results for them to display correctly.

Create a year sequence in Excel

To make a series of dates incremented by year, use this generic formula:

DATE(SEQUENCE(n, 1, YEAR(start_date)), MONTH(start_date), DAY(start_date))

Where n is the number of dates you want to generate.

In this case, the DATE(year, month, day) function constructs a date in this way:

  • Year is returned by the SEQUENCE function that is configured to generate an n rows by 1 column array of numbers, starting at the year value from start_date.
  • Month and day values are pulled directly from the start date.

For example, if you input the start date in B1, the following formula will output a series of 10 dates in one-year increments:

=DATE(SEQUENCE(10, 1, YEAR(B1)), MONTH(B1), DAY(B1))

After being formatted as dates, the results will look as follows:
A formula to output a year sequence in Excel

Generate a times sequence in Excel

Because times are stored in Excel as decimals numbers representing a fraction of the day, the SEQUENCE function can work with times directly.

Assuming the start time is in B1, you can use one of the following formulas to produce a series of 10 times. The difference is only in the step argument. As there are 24 hours in a day, use 1/24 to increment by an hour, 1/48 to increment by 30 minutes, and so on.

30 minutes apart:

=SEQUENCE(10, 1, B1, 1/48)

1 hour apart:

=SEQUENCE(10, 1, B1, 1/24)

2 hours apart:

=SEQUENCE(10, 1, B1, 1/12)

The screenshot below shows the results:
Generating a sequence of times in Excel

If you do not want to bother calculating the step manually, you can define it by using the TIME function:

SEQUENCE(rows, columns, start, TIME(hour, minute, second))

For this example, we'll input all the variables in separate cells like shown in the screenshot below. And then, you can use the below formula to generate a time series with any increment step size you specify in cells E2 (hours), E3 (minutes) and E4 (seconds):

=SEQUENCE(B2, B3, B4, TIME(E2, E3, E4))
Formula to create a time sequence in Excel with any increment step size

How to create a monthly calendar in Excel

In this final example, we'll be using the SEQUENCE function together with DATEVALUE and WEEKDAY to create a monthly calendar that will update automatically based on the year and month that you specify.

The formula in A5 is as follows:

=SEQUENCE(6, 7, DATEVALUE("1/"&B2&"/"&B1) - WEEKDAY(DATEVALUE("1/"&B2&"/"&B1)) + 1, 1)
Formula to create a monthly calendar in Excel

How this formula works:

You use the SEQUENCE function to generate a 6 rows (the max possible number of weeks in a month) by 7 columns (the number of days in a week) array of dates incremented by 1 day. Hence, the rows, columns and step arguments raise no questions.

The trickiest part in the start argument. We cannot start our calendar with the 1st day of the target month because we do not know which day of the week it is. So, we use the following formula to find the first Sunday before the 1st day of the specified month and year:

DATEVALUE("1/"&B2&"/"&B1) - WEEKDAY(DATEVALUE("1/"&B2&"/"&B1)) + 1

The first DATEVALUE function returns a serial number that, in the internal Excel system, represents the 1st day of the month in B2 and the year in B1. In our case, it's 44044 corresponding to August 1, 2020. At this point, we have:

44044 - WEEKDAY(DATEVALUE("1/"&B2&"/"&B1)) + 1

The WEEKDAY function returns the day of the week corresponding to the 1st day of the target month as a number from 1 (Sunday) to 7 (Saturday). In our case, it's 7 because August 1, 2020 is Saturday. And our formula reduces to:

44044 - 7 + 1

44044 - 7 is 4403, which corresponds to Saturday, July 25, 2020. As we need Sunday, we add the +1 correction.

This way, we get a simple formula that outputs an array of serial numbers beginning with 4404:

=SEQUENCE(6, 7, 4404, 1)

Format the results as dates, and you'll get a calendar shown in the screenshot above. For example, you can use one of the following date formats:

  • d-mmm-yy to display dates like 1-Aug-20
  • mmm d to display month and day like Aug 20
  • d to display only the day

Wait, but we aim to create a monthly calendar. Why do some dates of the previous and next month show up? To hide away those irrelevant dates, set up a conditional formatting rule with the below formula and apply the white font color:

=MONTH(A5)<>MONTH(DATEVALUE($B$2 & "1"))

Where A5 is the leftmost cell of your calendar and B2 is the target month.
Set up a conditional formatting rule to hide irrelevant dates.

For the detailed steps, please see How to create a formula-based conditional formatting rule in Excel.

That's how you can generate a sequence of dates in Excel. I thank you for reading and hope to see you on our blog next week!

Practice workbook for download

Date sequence in Excel - formula examples (.xlsx file)

Table of contents

261 comments

  1. Hi

    I'm trying to write a formula to work with countifs.
    In row 2 columns J-Ji I have a monthly sequence Jan-19....Dec-30
    I need to match this to actual dates, for example 27/07/2023 would be a match to JUL-23.

    My question is, would it be possible to have say July-23 contain all the days of this month?

    if it is how would i do it please?

    regards

    Paul

  2. I need a formula to list a list of monthly dates for the number of transactions that vary each month. For example, the first month has five transactions so I would want the year and month to show for five times. The next month is fourteen transactions and so would want the month and year to show fourteen times.

    Hope you can help

    John

  3. In my cell I have dates going from Friday to Friday (March 15-March 22). I then want the next cell (in the same column) to go from the second friday to the next friday (March 22-March 29).

    • Hi! To create a series of Fridays, read the article carefully and create a series of dates with an interval of 7 days between each date.

      =SEQUENCE(3,1,DATE(2024,3,15),7)

      An easier way is to write the first Friday in A1 and use the formula =A1+7. Copy it down the column.

  4. Hello 🙋🏽‍♂️ i would like to help create a easy to use invoice excel sheet for my friend. i would like him to be able to enter a start date and it would generate the the next few days based on the date entered . for instance if i type 04/07/2024 i would like the whole week to populate just for the 7 day work week. i know how to do it using the handle but i am afraid he will not be savvy enough to do it himself. thank you for your help.

    • Hi! Please re-check the article above since it covers your task. The formula might look like this:

      =SEQUENCE(7,1,D1+1,1)

      Hope this is what you need.

  5. How can I generate a sequence in Excel for a pattern that includes ADCJAN25001, ADCFEB25002, and ADCFEB25003, in a row spanning 12 months?

  6. 26/02 - 03/03 4/03 - 10/03 Hi can you please help me for a formula. Actually that my date format, its weekly in one column from monday 26 feb to sunday 03 march ( 26/02 to 03/02) then next week will be monday 4 march to sunday 10 march (4/03 - 10/03).

  7. Hi,
    How I can create dates populating 2 days per months,
    mar 8 2024
    mar 23 2024
    apr 8 2024
    apr 23 2024

    Tried fill 15 days, not working

    Thank you

    • Hi! There are different numbers of days between your dates in different months - 15 and 16. Therefore, they are not date sequences.

  8. Hi,

    Can you please provide some assistance on how do I display months based on custom date cycle. For eg. my month starts at 26th December and ends at 25th January, I want January 24 to be shown beside it and continue this for the following month. Each month starting at 26th and ending at 25th of the following month.

      • Apologies I might not have been able to explain it properly.

        I have a list of dates in column A, starting from Jan 1, 23 to Dec 31, 23. I want to categorize these in months in column B based on customized month cycle i.e. for every month it is from 26th of the month to 25th of the following month.

        In column B I can use =text(A1,"MMMM-DD") to list the months, but how do I customize the formula for it to pick dates based on the month cycle. Something like;
        26th Jan 23 - 25th Feb 23 - January 23
        26th Feb 23 - 25th March 23 - Feb 23
        26th March 23 - 25th April 23 - March 23

        Hope i am able to explain it properly.

        Thanks.

  9. Hi, I need your kind help how to create the date for the next week specific day? Let's say, column B is date of stock take (could be on any day of the week). Column C is the date of stock take validation, where it should be the next Tuesday from the date in column B.

    What should be the formula I can use for column C?

    Thanks!

  10. Appreciate your active responses.
    Is it possible to create a quarterly sequence based off a start date?

    Here's what i am looking to achieve:
    Start Date: 01-DEC-2023 (manual input)
    Qtrly Sequence:
    1-Dec-23 29-Feb-24
    1-Mar-24 31-May-24
    1-Jun-24 31-Aug-24
    1-Sep-24 30-Nov-24

    Thanks for your time and help.

  11. I have a table in excel that has golf tee times for every Wednesday in 2024. There are 6 tee times every Wednesday, starting 03/01/2024 and ending Wednesday 25th December 2024. I need to create the same table for 2025, beginning Wednesday 1st January 2025 and ending Wednesday 24th December 2025. The only column that is affected is column A.

    Column A should look like this

    01/01/2025
    01/01/2025
    01/01/2025
    01/01/2025
    01/01/2025
    01/01/2025
    08/01/2025
    08/01/2025
    08/01/2025
    08/01/2025
    08/01/2025
    08/01/2025

    and so on. What function can I use to avoid having to use series fill and copy.

    Kind regards

    Janey

  12. If we wanted to create a date formula for a column that has the "next closest cycle" that is based of another column how would we do so?

    For example if the date is 3/23/2021 in Column A, the next cycle will be 4/1/2021 which should show in Column B. Another example is, if the date is 10/24/2022 in Column A, the next cycle should be 1/1/2023 in Column B.

    There are four cycles 1/1, 4/1, 7/1, 10/1 that I am referencing and of course the corresponding years. What would be the best formula to implement for this?

      • Hi Alexander,

        So I do not want the first date of the next month but instead the first day of the Fiscal Quarter based on the date in the column.

        For example if the date is 3/23/2021 in Column A, the next cycle will be 4/1/2021 which should show in Column B. Another example is, if the date is 10/24/2022 in Column A, the next cycle should be 1/1/2023 in Column B.

        There are four cycles 1/1, 4/1, 7/1, 10/1 that I am referencing and of course the corresponding years. The guidelines above don't have information for pulling fiscal dates from regular dates

  13. How can I make this formula to show biweekly starting Jan 5 of this year instead of semi-month

    Description Results Formula
    Start 01/01/2024 =DATE($C$1,MONTH(1&LEFT(C$2,3)),1)
    Mid 01/15/2024 =DATE($C$1,MONTH(1&LEFT(C$2,3)),15)
    End 01/31/2024 =DATE($C$1,MONTH(1&LEFT(C$2,3))+1,1)-1

    • Hi! Based on your description, it is hard to completely understand your task. If you want a date interval of 14 days, use the formulas from the article above. What does "starting Jan 5" mean?
      I can suggest a formula
      =SEQUENCE(50, 1, DATE(2024, 1, 5), 14)
      If you want something different, clarify.

  14. Thank you for this!

    Is there a way where you can start the calender part way through the month? For example, I want my calender to start on Sunday 11 March 2024 and then run 6 weeks after that.

    Thank you

    • Hi! I recommend that you read this paragraph above carefully: Create a series of dates in Excel.
      Example of a formula:
      =SEQUENCE(6*7, 1, DATE(2024, 3, 11), 1)

      • Thank you for this, makes sense.

        Adding to this, if I were to enter a start date part way through the week, but I still wanted the dates to formulate from Sunday (eg I enter 1 Feb 2024 (thursday), but I want the dates to populate from 28 Jan 2024 (Sunday), would that be possible?

        Thank you

        • For clarity, I'm trying to create an automated timetable for a 6 week period that starts from an employees start date, which could be any day of the week, but I need the dates to appear in a preexisting calender template I have (which is built from Sunday through to Saturday).

  15. Hello Alexander,
    I don't have a question for you, I just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your posts and detailed explanations of each formula and each step.
    They have saved me countless times and honestly, your site is my only go-to when I run into trouble or have a question.
    I cannot thank you enough!!
    Best regards,
    Klaudia

  16. Hello! i need your kind suggestion in populating dates of entire year in a sequence for one column that excludes sundays, repeat the same date for 6 cells then proceeding to the next date for the same 6 cells until the year's end. thanks

  17. How do we make a calendar with Monday as the start of the week instead of Sunday? Thanks!

    • Hi! If you want to insert a calendar on an Excel worksheet, use this information: How to create calendar in Excel (drop-down and printable).
      If you're talking about the formula in paragraph: How to create a monthly calendar in Excel, then read carefully the explanations to the formula.
      WEEKDAY function with argument [return_type] = 2 defines the first day of the week as Monday. Change the formula:

      =SEQUENCE(6,7,DATEVALUE("1/"&B2&"/"&B1) - WEEKDAY(DATEVALUE("1/"&B2&"/"&B1)-1,2), 1)

      If this is not what you wanted, please describe the problem in more detail.

  18. in Excel how do I create a 52-week top row where each cell represents a week start and end date

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