How to use MONTH in Excel
The month of a date, 1–12.
Syntax
serial_numberA date or cellExample
Here’s MONTH on a small table of orders. The highlighted cells are the ones the formula reads.
=MONTH(DATE(2026,11,2))Edit this formula live Change the ranges and watch the answer update. Free, no sign-up.
Common mistakes with MONTH
It returns a number
MONTH gives 1–12. For the name, use TEXT(A2,"mmmm").
Different years share months
Group by year and month together, or January 2025 and January 2026 get mixed.
What the error messages mean
Type these slips into Gridwise and this is the feedback you get:
Leaving off the closing bracket
=MONTH(DATE(2026,11,2)
Parentheses don’t match. You have 2 opening and 1 closing parentheses. Every ( needs a ).
Questions
What does the MONTH function do in Excel?
The month of a date, 1–12. The syntax is MONTH(serial_number).
Why is my MONTH formula giving the wrong answer?
It returns a number: MONTH gives 1–12. For the name, use TEXT(A2,"mmmm"). Different years share months: Group by year and month together, or January 2025 and January 2026 get mixed.
Does MONTH 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.