Knowing the day of the week for a given date can be incredibly useful in Google Sheets. Whether you’re analyzing trends, scheduling events, or simply want to add a touch of extra information to your spreadsheets, having this capability can significantly enhance your data analysis and presentation.
How to Add Day of the Week in Google Sheets
Fortunately, Google Sheets provides a straightforward way to determine the day of the week for any date. This guide will walk you through the process using the built-in WEEKDAY function.
Understanding the WEEKDAY Function
The WEEKDAY function in Google Sheets returns the day of the week as a number, where 1 represents Sunday, 2 represents Monday, and so on.
How to Add Day of the Week in Google Sheets
Google Sheets is a powerful tool for organizing and analyzing data. One useful feature is the ability to automatically insert the day of the week into your spreadsheet. This can be helpful for scheduling, tracking events, or simply understanding the context of your data.
Using the DAYOFWEEK Function
The DAYOFWEEK function is the primary way to add the day of the week to your Google Sheets. It takes a date as input and returns a number representing the day of the week, where 1 is Sunday and 7 is Saturday.
Syntax
The syntax for the DAYOFWEEK function is:
`=DAYOFWEEK(date)`
Where “date” is the cell containing the date you want to analyze. (See Also: How Do You Name Columns In Google Sheets)
Example
If you have a date in cell A1, you can use the following formula to get the day of the week:
`=DAYOFWEEK(A1)`
This will return a number from 1 to 7, representing the day of the week.
Converting the Number to Text
While the DAYOFWEEK function provides the numerical representation of the day, you likely want to display the actual day name. You can achieve this using the TEXT function in conjunction with DAYOFWEEK.
Syntax
The syntax for this combined function is:
`=TEXT(DAYOFWEEK(date),”dddd”)` (See Also: How Do You Add Numbers On Google Sheets)
Where “dddd” is a format code that specifies the desired day name format.
Example
Using the same date in cell A1, the following formula will display the full day name:
`=TEXT(DAYOFWEEK(A1),”dddd”)`
This will return the text representation of the day, such as “Sunday,” “Monday,” etc.
Recap
This article demonstrated how to add the day of the week to your Google Sheets. We explored the DAYOFWEEK function to obtain the numerical representation of the day and the TEXT function to format it as a readable day name. By combining these functions, you can easily incorporate day-of-week information into your spreadsheets for enhanced analysis and organization.
Frequently Asked Questions: Adding Day of the Week in Google Sheets
How can I display the day of the week for a specific date in Google Sheets?
You can use the `WEEKDAY` function to get the day of the week for a given date. For example, if you have the date “2023-10-26″ in cell A1, you can use the formula `=WEEKDAY(A1)` to get the day of the week as a number (1 for Sunday, 2 for Monday, etc.). To display the day name, you can use the `TEXT` function like this: `=TEXT(WEEKDAY(A1),”dddd”)`.
What if I want to display the full day name (e.g., “Thursday”) instead of just the abbreviation?
You can use the `TEXT` function with the format code “dddd” to display the full day name. For example, the formula `=TEXT(WEEKDAY(A1),”dddd”)` will return “Thursday” if the date in cell A1 is 2023-10-26.
Can I customize the starting day of the week for the `WEEKDAY` function?
Yes, you can use the optional `[return_type]` argument in the `WEEKDAY` function. By default, it returns 1 for Sunday. To start the week on Monday, use `=WEEKDAY(A1,2)`.
Is there a way to automatically add the day of the week to a date column?
Absolutely! You can use the `=TEXT(A1,”dddd”)` formula in a separate column next to your date column. Then, simply drag the fill handle down to apply the formula to all the dates in your column.
What if I need to display the day of the week based on a specific date format?
You can adjust the format code within the `TEXT` function to match your desired date format. Refer to Google Sheets’ documentation on date and time formatting codes for more options: [https://support.google.com/docs/answer/168396?hl=en](https://support.google.com/docs/answer/168396?hl=en)