Unfortunately you don't get what you want; you get a format that is not one
of your defaults and is not what you type. It gets worse if you type 5/13;
Excel displays May-13 but the formula bar shows it means May 1 2015!

--

Kind Regards,

Niek Otten

Microsoft MVP - Excel

"gls858" wrote in message
...
J Fultz wrote:
Thank you for your quick response but actually I am looking for a way to
change the default. I understand how to correct the format but I would
prefer that it went directly to the "mm/dd/yyyy" format. That would
allow me to enter the date in a sort of shorthand rather than needing to
include the year when I type it in.

I have done additional searching and I have a feeling it is a lost cause.
It just seems strange to me that it defaults to the custom "d-mmm" format
when there are formats specifically listed for dates that would show the
date as "mm/dd". that would still not be what I want but at least it
would make more sense for it to default to a "date" format rather than a
"custom" format if it is clear recognizing the data as a date.

Am I being too logical?
"gls858" wrote:


J Fultz wrote:

In Excel 2002, dates entered in a worksheet as "dd/mm" default to a
custom format of "d-mmm". For example, 4/26 shows as 26-Apr in the
worksheet cell even though it is shown as 4/26/2005 in the Formula Bar.
I want them to default to "mm/dd/yyyy". In the Regional settings, the
default short date format is shown as "dd/mm/yyyy".

Any ideas?

right click on the cell select format date Format Cell
select the format format you would like to see. Or change your custom
format to m/d/yyyy.

gls858


I guess when you just type 4/26 Excel is assuming that is the format you
want to display. If I type 4/26/2005 then the date is displayed in the
mm/dd/yyyy format.

gls858