excel dates change

[el]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

am trying to copy a worksheet into a new workbook. one element is a column of dates. in the new/pasted version all of the dates change. for example: 4/14/2009 in now 4/15/2013. i'm sure there's some simple thing that i'm overlooking, but i can't figure it out!

 

[APKH]

This just happened to me. I had a spreadsheet that was originally created in Windows Excel (probably version 2003). It has columns of dates. When I try to copy either the worksheet or one of the columns into my Mac Excel worksheet, it adds 4 years and 1 day to all the dates.

When I do the reverse ... have a spreadsheet with a column of dates that originated in my Mac Excel and in Windows Excel, try to copy and paste it into a new spreadsheet, it subtracts 4 years and 1 day to all the dates.

HELP!!!!!!!!

 

[el]

have the exact same situation. started on a pc with excel (likely 2003) now on mac with excel 2008. very frustrating.....

 

[CyberTaz]

This long-standing KB article will explain everything about the distinction
between the 1900 Date System & the 1906 Date System:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/180162

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[APKH]

These fixes seem to fix it on individual worksheets. I work with people who mainly are in the Windows environment and we trade spreadsheets with dates all the time. Is there any way I can permanently set my Mac Excel to the 1900 Date System?

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

These fixes seem to fix it on individual worksheets. I work with people who
mainly are in the Windows environment and we trade spreadsheets with dates all
the time. Is there any way I can permanently set my Mac Excel to the 1900 Date
System?

The date system is an attribute of the workbook. So if you open a windows
workbook first, that will set the date to 1900. Otherwise make a workbook
template with the 1900 date set.

 

[johnrcampbell]

The date system is an attribute of the workbook. So if you open a windows
workbook first, that will set the date to 1900. Otherwise make a workbook
template with the 1900 date set.

The template option is simply not good enough for all situations. That
only helps when creating a new workbook.

I regularly get PowerPoint Charts that have a linked Excel Chart in
them that are made by PC users. Unfortunately, I cannot use these
because the date scale at the bottom shows the wrong year. I cannot
simply change the option in preferences because I do not have the
Excel file, and a template doesn't help this either since the file has
already been created.

Why can there not be a global preference for Excel to adjust all
serial dates by 1462?