WEEKDAY Function in Excel: Day of the Week as a Number

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Date & TimeLevel: BeginnerAvailable in: Excel 2007+

In this article

1. Syntax
2. Examples
3. Example 1
4. Example 2
5. WEEKDAY in practice
6. Where you will use it
7. Worked example
8. Mistakes people make
9. Related functions
10. Continue learning

WEEKDAY returns a number for the day of the week. Type 2 makes Monday = 1 … Sunday = 7, the easiest for weekend checks.

Syntax

=WEEKDAY(serial_number, [return_type])

Argument	What it means
return_type	1 (default) Sun=1; 2 Mon=1; 3 Mon=0.

Examples

Example 1

=WEEKDAY(A2, 2)>5

TRUE for Saturday or Sunday.

Example 2

=A2-WEEKDAY(A2, 3)

The Monday of that week.

WEEKDAY in practice

Where you will use it

• Flag weekend entries
• Plan work by day of week
• Delivery rules (no Sunday dispatch)

Worked example

Return type 2: Monday = 1, Sunday = 7. 4 October 2026 is a Sunday.

Date	Formula	Result
04-Oct-2026	=WEEKDAY(A2,2)	7
05-Oct-2026	=WEEKDAY(A3,2)	1
10-Oct-2026	=WEEKDAY(A4,2)	6

Results calculated in Excel.

Mistakes people make

Mistake	What to do instead
Forgetting the return type	Type 2 makes Monday = 1 ... Sunday = 7, easier for weekend checks (>5)
Needing the name	Use TEXT(A2,"dddd")

Related functions

TEXT · NETWORKDAYS · WEEKNUM

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📎 Practice files for this article

• 📗
  Practice workbook: Dates & times22 tasks on realistic sales data — type your formula, the Check column turns green when it is right. Answers sheet included.
  ⬇ XLSX · 34 KB

Free to use for learning. Files with macros (.bas) are plain text — import them with Alt+F11 → File → Import File, and always test on a copy.