Formatting Issues

How to Convert Excel Dates from U.S. Format to Israeli Format

Maira Mehtab Sep 27, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to convert dates in a downloaded Excel workbook from the U.S. format (month-day-year) to the Israeli format (day-month-year), particularly when standard custom formatting fails to apply.

Product: Excel
Device & OS: Windows
Scenario: Working with a downloaded Excel workbook containing U.S. formatted dates that need to be localized.
Observed behavior: Dates remain in month-day-year format even after a custom day-month-year format is applied, usually because they are imported and stored as text or conflicting with system regional settings.

Before you start

Check whether your dates are stored as text or actual numbers by looking at their cell alignment; text usually aligns to the left, while real dates align to the right by default.

Solution 1Recommended

Convert Text to Dates and Apply Custom Format

Use this method if applying a custom date format directly doesn't change the appearance, indicating the dates are stored as text.

When Excel imports dates from certain sources, it may fail to recognize them as date values, storing them as text strings instead. Standard formatting will not work until you convert the text to serial date numbers.

Select the date cells

Highlight all the cells containing the problematic U.S. dates that refuse to format.

Use Text to Columns

Go to the 'Data' tab on the ribbon and click on 'Text to Columns'.

Configure the wizard

Choose 'Delimited' and click 'Next' twice to reach Step 3 of the wizard.

Set the date format

Under 'Column data format', select 'Date' and choose 'MDY' (Month-Day-Year) from the dropdown list, then click 'Finish'.

Apply Israeli format

Right-click the selected cells, choose 'Format Cells', navigate to the 'Custom' category, and type `dd/mm/yyyy` to display the day-month-year Israeli format.

Formatting Applied: Excel now recognizes the text as actual dates and successfully applies your requested custom format.

Solution 2

Change Windows Region Settings

Adjust your system's regional settings to ensure Excel correctly interprets dates upon import based on your local standards.

Manage Dates Easily in WPS Spreadsheet

Convert and Manage Global Date Formats with WPS Office

WPS Spreadsheet provides robust date formatting and text-to-columns tools that make converting between U.S., Israeli, and other international date formats fast and error-free.

1. Open your file: Launch WPS Spreadsheet and open your downloaded workbook containing the U.S. dates.
2. Launch Text to Columns: Select the stubborn dates, navigate to the 'Data' tab, and click the 'Text to Columns' button.
3. Convert the format: Follow the wizard and in the final step, set the column format to 'Date' (MDY) to convert the text properly.
4. Format cells: Right-click the converted cells, select 'Format Cells', and set a custom format to `dd/mm/yyyy`.

Easily convert text-based dates using the intuitive Text to Columns wizard.Fully compatible with Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) file formats and functions.Access a wide variety of locale-specific date formats natively.Free, lightweight, and user-friendly interface for seamless migration.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why doesn't the custom date format change my U.S. dates?

This usually happens when the downloaded data is stored as text strings rather than numerical serial dates. Excel cannot format text as a date, so you must convert the text to actual dates using the 'Text to Columns' tool first.

Will changing my Windows Region settings affect other applications?

Yes, modifying your Windows Region settings changes how dates, times, and currencies are displayed across your entire operating system, which will impact other applications that rely on system default formats.

How can I quickly identify if a date is stored as text?

By default, Excel aligns text to the left side of a cell and numbers (including dates) to the right. If your dates are clinging to the left margin without any manual alignment applied, they are likely stored as text.

Can I use a formula to convert text dates to real dates?

Yes, you can use the `DATEVALUE` function combined with text manipulation functions like `MID`, `LEFT`, and `RIGHT` to reconstruct the date into a recognized format if the standard formatting tools do not correctly parse the specific text structure.

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