How to use DAY in Excel
The day of the month.
Syntax
serial_numberA date or cellExample
Here’s DAY on a small table of orders. The highlighted cells are the ones the formula reads.
=DAY(DATE(2026,11,2))Edit this formula live Change the ranges and watch the answer update. Free, no sign-up.
Common mistakes with DAY
Day of the month, not the week
DAY returns 1–31. For Monday, Tuesday and so on, use WEEKDAY or TEXT(A2,"dddd").
Text dates
Convert text dates with DATEVALUE first.
What the error messages mean
Type these slips into Gridwise and this is the feedback you get:
Leaving off the closing bracket
=DAY(DATE(2026,11,2)
Parentheses don’t match. You have 2 opening and 1 closing parentheses. Every ( needs a ).
Questions
What does the DAY function do in Excel?
The day of the month. The syntax is DAY(serial_number).
Why is my DAY formula giving the wrong answer?
Day of the month, not the week: DAY returns 1–31. For Monday, Tuesday and so on, use WEEKDAY or TEXT(A2,"dddd"). Text dates: Convert text dates with DATEVALUE first.
Does DAY work in Google Sheets?
Most Excel functions, including the core ones on this page, work the same way in Google Sheets. A few newer functions arrived in Sheets later or behave slightly differently, so test it on your own data.