date format

[Arron]

Hi all~

Excel keeps changing my dates on me and I can't figure out how to make it
stop! I am entering my dates one of two ways, either season and year(ie Fall
1999) or month and year(ie March 1999.) My date isn't changed when I enter it
'season and year' but it does get changed when entered 'Month and year' into
a mm/dd/yyyy format. Any ideas how I could stop it from switching it on me so
I may enter the date how I wish it to be recorded?

Much thanks,
Arron

 

[T. Valko]

Precede the entry with an apostrophe: 'March 1999. The apostrophe will not
be displayed in the cell. Or, preformat the cell as TEXT.

 

[Dave Peterson]

If you're entering "March 1999" and you don't want it converted to a real date
(with a month, day, and year), then you can either:

Preformat the cell as Text, then do the data entry

Or

Start your entry with an apostrophe: 'March 1999