Excel YEAR Function
Chala mitrano — today YEAR. Pull the year piece out of a full date as a number.
चला मित्रांनो — आज YEAR. पूर्ण तारखेतून YEAR भाग संख्या म्हणून काढा.
चलो दोस्तों — आज YEAR. पूरी तारीख से YEAR भाग संख्या के रूप में निकालो.
Purpose
Return the four-digit year from a date.
Return value
A number.
Syntax
Arguments
| Argument | Required? | Description |
|---|---|---|
serial_number | Required | A real Excel date (or a cell with a date). |
Version
All Excel versions. LibreOffice Calc and Google Sheets too.
How to use — Why → What → How
Why: Reports often need only the year for pivots, filters and fiscal groupings. Asset registers in Nagpur and Chicago split depreciation by year. In Indian back offices and foreign sister teams, YEAR shows up on leave, SLA and invoice sheets every week.
What: YEAR(date) returns the year component as a number you can compare and calculate with. Read every argument in the table once before you type; each one changes the answer on purpose.
How — numbered steps:
- Click result cell.
- Type =YEAR(A2).
- Use the number in IF or pivot helpers.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip
Friends, after you learn YEAR, open a real leave or invoice sheet and find one cell this function would fix this week.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – मराठी
मित्रांनो, YEAR शिकून झाल्यावर खरी leave किंवा invoice sheet उघडा.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – हिंदी
दोस्तों, YEAR सीखने के बाद असली leave या invoice sheet खोलो.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip
Friends, sleep on YEAR and rebuild example 1 tomorrow without looking.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – मराठी
मित्रांनो, YEAR वर एक रात्र झोपा आणि उद्या उदाहरण 1 न पाहता पुन्हा लिहा.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – हिंदी
दोस्तों, YEAR पर एक रात सोकर कल उदाहरण 1 बिना देखे फिर लिखो.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip
Friends, say the business question in plain words before you type =YEAR.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – मराठी
मित्रांनो, =YEAR टाइप करण्यापूर्वी प्रश्न साध्या शब्दांत सांगा.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – हिंदी
दोस्तों, =YEAR टाइप करने से पहले सवाल सादे शब्दों में बोलो.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip
Friends, after you finish YEAR, open yesterday’s real workbook and find one place this function would have saved ten minutes. That habit turns lessons into salary skills.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – मराठी
मित्रांनो, YEAR शिकून झाल्यावर कालची खरी वर्कबुक उघडा आणि शोधा जिथे हे फंक्शन दहा मिनिटे वाचवू शकले असते.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – हिंदी
दोस्तों, YEAR सीखने के बाद कल की असली वर्कबुक खोलो और ढूँढो जहाँ यह फ़ंक्शन दस मिनट बचा सकता था.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip
Friends, treat YEAR like a seatbelt on date sheets — use it before a manager asks why the deadline slipped.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – मराठी
मित्रांनो, YEAR ला date sheets वरील seatbelt समजा — manager विचारण्यापूर्वी वापरा.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – हिंदी
दोस्तों, YEAR को date sheets पर seatbelt समझो — manager पूछे उससे पहले इस्तेमाल करो.
Download practice file: practice-year.xlsx (includes sheet About this data, practice sheets, and Answers).
Worked examples
1) Year from date
Nagpur asset.
| Buy date | ₹ |
|---|---|
| 2020-03-15 | 125000 |
Result: 2020
What it means: Purchase year.
2) Age in years (simple)
As of 2026.
| Buy |
|---|
| 2020-03-15 |
Result: 6
What it means: Rough years — DATEDIF is more precise.
3) Chicago lease
$ rent start.
| Start | $ |
|---|---|
| 2019-07-01 | 2400 |
Result: 2019
What it means: Lease year stamp.
4) Filter one year
Keep 2026 rows.
| Date |
|---|
| 2025-12-31 |
| 2026-01-02 |
Result: Y on second row
What it means: Year flag for pivots.
5) With TODAY idea
Current year.
| X |
|---|
| x |
Result: 2026
What it means: Use YEAR(TODAY()) live.
6) Text date
Convert first.
| Text |
|---|
| 15-Mar-2020 |
Result: 2020
What it means: Text → date → year.
Common errors and fixes
Notes and tips
- Revisit the YEAR errors table after the quiz.
- Build one new example from memory before closing the laptop.
- Check date formats and regional settings if a result looks wrong.
- Teach one tip to a classmate in Marathi or Hindi.
- Keep currency consistent inside one report column (practice may mix ₹ $ £ €).
- Note a fallback formula when home Excel is older than class Excel.
- Drill: extract YEAR from five mixed Indian/foreign date rows without peeking.
- YEAR vs TEXT: YEAR returns a number; TEXT returns a display string.
- Fictional sample data only.
- Print the YEAR revision card for one week of practice.
- Ask juniors to predict before Enter.
- Track your most common mistake monthly.
- Asset registers in Nagpur and Chicago split depreciation by year.
- Excel stores dates as serial numbers.
- Verify with a known calendar date before trusting long chains.
- Print the revision card for YEAR and stick it near your monitor for one week of real worksheets.
- When helping a junior, ask them to predict the result before pressing Enter — prediction builds judgement.
- Keep a personal notebook of the one mistake you make most often with this function; review it monthly.
- Share one tip from this page with a classmate in Marathi or Hindi — teaching locks the idea.
- If a result looks wrong, check date formats and regional settings before changing the formula.
- Date serial numbers are how Excel stores dates — formatting only changes the display.
- Share one tip from this page with a classmate in Marathi or Hindi — teaching locks the idea.
- Keep currency symbols consistent inside a single report column even when practice mixes ₹ $ £ € across examples.
- Classroom habit: after YEAR, open yesterday’s real workbook and find one place this function saves time.
- For interviews, explain why calendar days and working days differ on a project that crosses a weekend.
In real work
Drill: extract YEAR from five mixed Indian/foreign date rows without peeking. Asset registers in Nagpur and Chicago split depreciation by year. Classroom drill: write three brand-new YEAR formulas on a blank sheet using names from your own city — if you can invent them without the page open, you own the skill. Then break one formula on purpose and watch the error; recovering from that break is half of interview readiness. Always verify with a known calendar date before trusting a long chain of date formulas. Keep a personal notebook of the one mistake you make most often with this function; review it monthly. When Excel versions differ at home and in class, write the fallback formula under the modern one in a comment cell.
How it compares
YEAR vs TEXT: YEAR returns a number; TEXT returns a display string.
Interview corner
- Why YEAR not TEXT?
- Numbers calculate; TEXT is for labels.
- Text date?
- Convert first.
- Common mistake?
- Formatting confused with real serial.
Related functions
Practice tasks (10)
- Task 1. Extract YEAR from 2026-10-31.YEAR(date).
- Task 2. Handle a text date first.DATEVALUE.
- Task 3. Flag rows matching a rule with IF.IF.
- Task 4. Explain number vs TEXT name.Interview.
- Task 5. Build date then extract.DATE+YEAR
- Task 6. Fill down a column.Fill.
- Task 7. Document fiscal note if relevant.Note.
- Task 8. Compare two dates on this component.Equals.
- Task 9. Quiz a classmate orally.Teach.
- Task 10. Bonus: combine YEAR and MONTH for YYYYMM key.Join.
Quick quiz
Answers: Q1=A number, Q2=A real date, Q3=TEXT with mmm, Q4=DATEVALUE/DATE, Q5=Yes (check after you try).
Revision card
Standalone card (no tip or photo strip). QR opens this lesson. Download the PNG and revise offline.
