Weekday Excel Shortcut: Formulas and Fast Ways to Get It

Excel has no dedicated keyboard shortcut that turns a selected date into its weekday. For a date in A2, use =TEXT(A2,"dddd") to show the weekday name, or =WEEKDAY(A2,2) to return a number from 1 for Monday to 7 for Sunday; if you only need to enter today’s date, press Ctrl+; on Windows.

What “weekday shortcut” can mean

The phrase can refer to several different tasks, and the quickest method depends on the result you need. You might want the word Monday beside a date, a weekday number for a calculation, a date displayed with its weekday, or a keyboard command that inserts today’s date. Those are related, but they are not interchangeable.

Excel does not have a single built-in key combination that calculates and displays the weekday for any selected date. A formula is usually the right choice when the result should update automatically. A number format is convenient when you want to change how an existing date looks without adding another value. The date-entry shortcut is useful for recording today, but it inserts a fixed date rather than a live weekday calculation.

For a weekday name in another cell, use the TEXT function.
For a numeric weekday useful in logic, use WEEKDAY.
To show the weekday as part of the date itself, apply a date format such as dddd.
To enter today’s date as a fixed value, use Ctrl+; on Windows.

Use WEEKDAY to return a number

WEEKDAY converts an Excel date into a number that identifies its day of the week. With the date 2 November 2026 in A2, the formula =WEEKDAY(A2,2) returns 1, because that date is a Monday. The second argument, 2, sets Monday as day 1 and Sunday as day 7. This numbering is often useful for comparisons, schedules, and conditional formulas.

The return_type argument controls the numbering. If it is omitted, Excel uses the Sunday-first system: Sunday is 1 and Saturday is 7. That default can be surprising if you expect Monday to be the first day. To make the convention explicit, include the second argument rather than relying on the default.

With the date 2 November 2026 in A2, =WEEKDAY(A2,1) returns 2, because Sunday is 1 and Monday is 2. With the same date, =WEEKDAY(A2,3) returns 0; this option numbers Monday as 0 through Sunday as 6. Choose a system that matches the rest of your workbook, and label numeric results if other people may not know which convention you used.

Display the weekday name with TEXT

If you want a readable label rather than a number, TEXT formats a date as text. With the date 2 November 2026 in A2, =TEXT(A2,"dddd") returns Monday. For the shortened name, the same cell layout uses =TEXT(A2,"ddd"), which returns Mon. These results are text, not dates, so they are handy for labels but less suitable when later calculations need the original date value.

TEXT can also combine a date with its weekday. With the date 2 November 2026 in A2, =TEXT(A2,"dddd, mmmm d, yyyy") returns Monday, November 2, 2026. The format codes determine the displayed text: dddd is the full weekday name, ddd is the abbreviated name, mmmm is the full month name, and yyyy shows a four-digit year.

One trade-off is worth noting: TEXT returns text even when the original cell contains a real date. If you need to sort chronologically, calculate elapsed days, or use the result in another date function, keep the original date in its own cell. You can display a weekday label in a neighboring column while leaving the source value intact.

Show the weekday without adding a formula

If the date is already in a cell and you only want it to look different, use a custom number format. Select the date cells, press Ctrl+1 on Windows to open Format Cells, choose the Number tab, then choose Custom and enter dddd in the Type box. The cell displays the weekday name, but the underlying value remains the date.

Use ddd for an abbreviated weekday. To include both weekday and date, enter dddd, mmmm d, yyyy as the custom format. For example, an underlying date of 2 November 2026 displays as Monday, November 2, 2026. Because formatting does not replace the date value, the cell can still be used in date calculations and sorted as a date.

This approach is often better than TEXT when you need the date to remain usable as a date. It changes only the appearance of the selected cells; it does not create a separate weekday result. If you need both the original date display and a separate label, use a formula in another column instead.

Use weekdays in formulas and schedules

A numeric weekday result can drive a rule. With dates in A2:A20 and a formula entered beside the date in B2, =IF(WEEKDAY(A2,2)>5,"Weekend","Weekday") returns Weekday for Monday through Friday and Weekend for Saturday or Sunday. Copy the formula down column B to classify the rest of the dates. The test uses the Monday-first numbering, so values greater than 5 are weekend days.

This is a useful pattern for work calendars, but it does not know about public holidays or company closures. It classifies Saturday and Sunday as weekends only. If your organization has a different working week—for example, Friday and Saturday off—you need a different condition that reflects that schedule.

For a list of dates in A2:A20, =SUMPRODUCT(--(WEEKDAY(A2:A20,2)<6)) counts the Monday-to-Friday dates in the range, including weekdays that might be holidays. It does not count blank cells as weekdays in this use because WEEKDAY cannot treat an empty cell as a valid date in the intended way; check that the range contains dates rather than empty entries before relying on the count. For many business-day tasks, NETWORKDAYS is a more direct option because it counts working days between two dates and can exclude a supplied holiday range.

Weekday versus working day

A weekday usually means Monday through Friday. A working day is a date treated as a workday under a particular calendar. The terms often overlap, but they are not identical: a weekday can be a public holiday, while some businesses work weekends. WEEKDAY identifies the day of the week; it does not know your holiday schedule.

For a date range, NETWORKDAYS counts weekdays between a start and end date, treating Saturday and Sunday as nonworking days by default. With the start date in A2, the end date in B2, and holiday dates in H2:H10, =NETWORKDAYS(A2,B2,H2:H10) returns the number of working days in the interval after excluding listed holidays. The start and end dates are included in the count when they are working days. The holiday range can be omitted if there are no holidays to exclude.

For a nonstandard weekend, Excel also provides NETWORKDAYS.INTL, which lets you specify which days count as weekends. That function is different from WEEKDAY: use WEEKDAY when you need to identify or label a particular date, and use a workday-counting function when you need to calculate business days. Confirm the weekend pattern and holiday list before using the result for deadlines or payroll.

Keyboard shortcuts and date entry

On Windows, Ctrl+; inserts the current date into the selected cell as a fixed value. It does not insert a formula, and it will not update tomorrow. On Excel for Mac, Control+; is also the common shortcut for inserting the current date; keyboard layouts and system settings can affect how punctuation shortcuts behave. If the key combination is inconvenient, type the date directly or use the Insert Date command available in the interface.

To insert a date that updates automatically, use a formula instead. With any cell selected as the destination, =TODAY() returns the current date according to the computer’s date setting and recalculates as the workbook recalculates. Unlike Ctrl+;, this is not a permanent timestamp. If you need a record of when something happened, a fixed date is generally more appropriate; if you need a report that always reflects today, TODAY may fit better.

To calculate the weekday of an inserted date, put the date in A2 and use a separate cell for =TEXT(A2,"dddd"). The shortcut enters the date; the formula supplies the weekday label. Keeping those jobs separate makes it easier to tell which value is fixed and which one is calculated.

Common problems and quick checks

If a weekday formula returns a number you did not expect, check its return_type. Omitting that argument makes WEEKDAY count Sunday as 1, while =WEEKDAY(A2,2) makes Monday 1. Also verify that the date is a real Excel date rather than text that merely looks like one. A text date may fail in date calculations or be interpreted differently depending on regional settings.

If TEXT or a custom format shows an unexpected result, confirm that the source cell contains the intended date and that the format code is correct: dddd gives the full weekday name, while ddd gives the abbreviation. A formula result from TEXT is text, so applying a date format to that result will not turn it back into a date.

If the displayed weekday seems one day off, inspect the original date and any time component. Excel stores dates as serial numbers and can store a time as a fractional part of a day. A normal date display hides the time, so a value close to midnight may not be what it appears to be. Also check whether the date was entered in month/day/year or day/month/year order, particularly when opening a workbook created under different regional settings.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Excel shortcut to show the day of the week?
There is no dedicated keyboard shortcut that converts a date into its weekday. Use =TEXT(A2,"dddd") for the weekday name, or apply the custom number format dddd if you want to change the date’s display without changing its value.

What formula gives Monday as 1 and Sunday as 7?
With the date in A2, =WEEKDAY(A2,2) returns Monday as 1 through Sunday as 7. The second argument is important because WEEKDAY uses a Sunday-first numbering system if you leave it out.

How do I insert today’s date in Excel?
Press Ctrl+; on Windows to enter today’s date as a fixed value. On Excel for Mac, Control+; is the usual equivalent. The inserted value does not advance automatically on later days.

How do I display Monday instead of a number?
With a date in A2, use =TEXT(A2,"dddd") to return the full weekday name, or use =TEXT(A2,"ddd") for a short name. If you want to preserve a real date in the same cell, apply a custom dddd number format instead.

Does WEEKDAY exclude holidays?
No. WEEKDAY only identifies the day of the week. To count working days while excluding holidays, use NETWORKDAYS or NETWORKDAYS.INTL and provide the relevant holiday dates where needed.

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Sources: Function behaviour and menu paths: Microsoft Support documentation for Excel. Method & sources

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