Count Days Between Two Dates in Excel

The NETWORKDAYS function, one of Excel's Date and Time functions, can be used to count the number of working days between two dates - such as the start and end dates for a project. The function automatically removes weekend days from the total. Specific holidays can also be omitted.

The syntax for the NETWORKDAYS function is:

= NETWORKDAYS ( Start_date , End_date , Holidays )

Start_date - the start date of the chosen time period.

End_date - the end date of the chosen time period.

Holidays - can be used to exclude one or more dates from the total number of working days (optional).

Count Days Between Two Dates Example

For help with this example, see the image to the right.

1. Enter the following data into the appropriate cell:
   
   D1 - Start:
   D2 - Finish:
   D3 - Holiday 1:
   D4 - Holiday 2:
   D5 - # of Days:
   E1 - 7/7/2008
   E2 - 11/7/2008
   E3 - 9/8/2008
   E4 - 10/13/2008
   

   Note: If the dates in cells E1 to E4 do not appear correct, check to see that these cells are formatted for dates.
   

2. Click on cell E5 - the location where the results will be displayed.
   
   
3. Click on the Formulas tab.
   
   
4. Choose Date and Time functions > NETWORKDAYS from the ribbon to bring up the function's dialog box.
   
   
5. Click on the Start_date line in the dialog box.
   
   
6. Click on cell E1 in the spreadsheet to enter that date as the start date of the project.
   
   
7. Click on the End_date line in the dialog box.
   
   
8. Click on cell E2 in the spreadsheet to enter the date in that cell as the end date of the project.
   
   
9. Click on the Holidays line in the dialog box.
   
   
10. Drag select cells E3 and E4 in the spreadsheet to enter the data in those cells as dates to be excluded from the total number of workdays.
    
    
11. Click OK in the dialog box.
    
    
12. The number of working days - 88 appears in cell E5.
    
    
13. There are 90 weekdays between the start and end dates. From this number the two holidays in cells E3 and E4 are subtracted to leave 88 working days.
    
    
14. When you click on cell E5 the complete function
    = NETWORKDAYS ( E1 , E2 , E3 : E4 ) appears in the formula bar above the worksheet.

• Excel DATEDIF Function
• Excel DAYS360 Function
• Excel EDATE Function