The Excel WEEKDAY Function returns the day of the week as the number WEEKDAY Function: A Brief The Excel WEEKDAY Function is used to return a number representing the day of the week for a specific date. This function is very helpful when you want to identify whether a date falls on a weekday or weekend or when automating schedules based on days. day of the week specific date date falls weekday weekend Objective Value Returned by function Aim to return a numerical weekday. WEEKDAY Function will return a number of the day of the week from the given input date. Objective Value Returned by function Aim to return a numerical weekday. WEEKDAY Function will return a number of the day of the week from the given input date. Objective Value Returned by function Objective Objective Value Returned by function Value Returned by function Aim to return a numerical weekday. WEEKDAY Function will return a number of the day of the week from the given input date. Aim to return a numerical weekday. Aim to return a numerical weekday. WEEKDAY Function will return a number of the day of the week from the given input date. WEEKDAY Function will return a number of the day of the week from the given input date. WEEKDAY Function: A Syntax =WEEKDAY(date_value, [return_type]) =WEEKDAY(date_value, [return_type]) date_value: It should be a valid Excel Date value. return_type: A number that defines which day the week starts on and this is optional. WEEKDAY returns 1 for Sunday and 2 for Monday. date_value: It should be a valid Excel Date value. date_value Excel Date return_type: A number that defines which day the week starts on and this is optional. return_type which day the week starts WEEKDAY returns 1 for Sunday and 2 for Monday. WEEKDAY Return_type Day 1 Sunday 2 Monday 3 Tuesday 4 Wednesday 5 Thursday 6 Friday 7 Saturday Return_type Day 1 Sunday 2 Monday 3 Tuesday 4 Wednesday 5 Thursday 6 Friday 7 Saturday Return_type Day Return_type Return_type Day Day 1 Sunday 1 1 Sunday Sunday 2 Monday 2 2 Monday Monday 3 Tuesday 3 3 Tuesday Tuesday 4 Wednesday 4 4 Wednesday Wednesday 5 Thursday 5 5 Thursday Thursday 6 Friday 6 6 Friday Friday 7 Saturday 7 7 Saturday Saturday Excel WEEKDAY function can number days of the week, based on the return_type argument. return_type Which day is treated as the “first” day of the week, and What number gets assigned to each day (Sunday, Monday, etc.) Which day is treated as the “first” day of the week, and first What number gets assigned to each day (Sunday, Monday, etc.) The return_type is optional and defaults to 1. It determines how the days of the week are numbered and which day is considered the first day. Each return_type code has its own mapping, showing the numeric result for each day and the starting day of the week in that scheme. return_type 1 first day numeric result starting day Note: The WEEKDAY function in Excel will still return a result even if the date cell is empty. In such cases, it defaults to zero or may return 1, depending on how it’s used in the formula. Note: WEEKDAY date cell is empty zero 1 Basic Example: This function can be very helpful if you are managing a small event calendar in Excel. Take a look at the below example. From the example above, you can easily understand the basic use of the WEEKDAY function. I used the TEXT function along with the day number returned by WEEKDAY to show the day name (like Monday, Tuesday, etc.). WEEKDAY TEXT day number WEEKDAY day name Using WEEKDAY Function with Nested Functions: The explanation of the above examples are, The first formula returns “Weekday” because April 1, 2025 is a Tuesday, not a weekend day. The second formula returns “Normal Work”. Since April 1 is a Tuesday, it doesn’t match special conditions for Monday or Friday, so the default output is shown. The third formula gives “April 2, 2025”. As April 1 is a weekday (Tuesday), the next working day is simply the next day. The fourth formula shows “No, the given date is not a Sunday” because April 1 is a Tuesday, not Sunday, so the formula returns the response for a non-Sunday. The fifth formula returns “Workday”. It checks if the day is Friday. Since April 1 is a Tuesday, it returns “WorkDay” as expected. The sixth formula outputs “Tuesday”. The CHOOSE function uses the weekday number to return the correct day name, and April 1, 2025 is Tuesday. The seventh formula returns “01 April 2025”. The formula is designed to adjust the date only if it’s a Sunday. Since April 1 is not a Sunday, the same date is returned. The first formula returns “Weekday” because April 1, 2025 is a Tuesday, not a weekend day. first formula “Weekday” April 1, 2025 Tuesday The second formula returns “Normal Work”. Since April 1 is a Tuesday, it doesn’t match special conditions for Monday or Friday, so the default output is shown. second formula “Normal Work” Tuesday Monday Friday The third formula gives “April 2, 2025”. As April 1 is a weekday (Tuesday), the next working day is simply the next day. third formula “April 2, 2025” weekday (Tuesday) The fourth formula shows “No, the given date is not a Sunday” because April 1 is a Tuesday, not Sunday, so the formula returns the response for a non-Sunday. fourth formula “No, the given date is not a Sunday” Tuesday The fifth formula returns “Workday”. It checks if the day is Friday. Since April 1 is a Tuesday, it returns “WorkDay” as expected. fifth formula “Workday” Friday Tuesday “WorkDay” The sixth formula outputs “Tuesday”. The CHOOSE function uses the weekday number to return the correct day name, and April 1, 2025 is Tuesday. sixth formula “Tuesday” CHOOSE Tuesday The seventh formula returns “01 April 2025”. The formula is designed to adjust the date only if it’s a Sunday. Since April 1 is not a Sunday, the same date is returned. seventh formula “01 April 2025” Sunday not That’s it. –Narendhiran Vijayakumar. This tutorial is originally published on How to use Excel Weekday Function? How to use Excel Weekday Function?
