The Excel MONTH function extracts the month number (1–12) from any date — the workhorse behind monthly summaries, quarter calculations, and "same month as" comparisons. It returns a number, never "June"; for month names you bring in TEXT. Together with DAY, YEAR, and DATE, it lets you take dates apart and reassemble them at will.
6. For the name instead of the number, use =TEXT(A2, "mmmm") → "June".
Syntax
| Argument | Description | |
|---|---|---|
serial_number | Required | The date to read the month from — a cell with a real date, a DATE formula, or a raw serial number. |
Serial numbers, again: Excel stores dates as a count of days since January 1, 1900, with times as fractions of a day. MONTH reads the month out of that serial number, so =MONTH(46188) returns 6 just like =MONTH("6/15/2026") — serial 46188 is June 15, 2026.
Extract the month from a date
MONTH turns any date into its month number, ready for sorting, grouping, or comparing. Column C shows the companion trick for names:
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Order date | =MONTH(A) | =TEXT(A,"mmm") |
| 2 | 01/05/2026 | 1 | Jan |
| 3 | 06/15/2026 | 6 | Jun |
| 4 | 09/30/2026 | 9 | Sep |
| 5 | 12/31/2026 | 12 | Dec |
A typical use: flag or filter rows from a list of dated orders by month:
Try it: interactive MONTH demo
Pick a date and watch MONTH extract the number — plus the name and quarter formulas built on top of it.
Quarters, month grouping, and comparisons
Because MONTH returns a clean 1–12, a little arithmetic turns it into a calendar quarter:
To group dates by month across years correctly, anchor every date to the first of its month — MONTH alone would lump June 2025 with June 2026:
And the classic same-month test compares both parts:
Errors & common pitfalls
#VALUE! — not a real date. Text like "Jun 15th 2026" or a locale-mismatched import can’t be coerced to a serial number. Convert with DATEVALUE or rebuild with DATE.
Pitfall: expecting "June" and getting 6. MONTH always returns the number. =TEXT(A2, "mmmm") gives the full name, "mmm" the abbreviation. Avoid formatting the MONTH result itself — format the original date.
Pitfall: grouping by MONTH alone mixes years. MONTH of June 2025 and June 2026 are both 6. For monthly reports spanning years, group on DATE(YEAR(A2), MONTH(A2), 1) instead.
Pitfall: the result displays as a date. If =MONTH(A2) shows 01/06/1900, the cell carries a date format — the underlying 6 is correct. Switch the format to General.
Practice workbook
Frequently asked questions
How do I get the month name instead of the number?
=TEXT(A2, "mmmm") returns "June", =TEXT(A2, "mmm") returns "Jun". MONTH only ever returns the number 1–12.How do I convert a month number to a quarter?
=ROUNDUP(MONTH(A2)/3, 0) gives 1–4. For fiscal years that don't start in January, shift first: =ROUNDUP(MOD(MONTH(A2)-7, 12)/3 + 0.01, 0)-style offsets, or simply use a 12-row lookup table.Why does MONTH give the same answer for June 2025 and June 2026?
Why does MONTH return #VALUE!?
Can I get the month from a date-and-time value?
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