[Excel] How to Restrict Input to Dates Only (yyyy/mm/dd)

Background

I wanted to restrict the values entered into cells in Excel to dates only (yyyy/mm/dd), so I looked into how to do it.

Steps

Here is the procedure:

1. Select the target cells.
2. Click the “Data” tab on the menu bar.
3. Click “Data Validation” in the “Data Tools” group.
4. When the “Data Validation” dialog box opens, select the “Settings” tab.
5. From the “Allow” dropdown list, select “Date”.
6. Set an appropriate range for “Start date” and “End date” (e.g., 1900/1/1 to 9999/12/31).
7. Select the “Input Message” tab and set a message if necessary (e.g., “Only dates can be entered here”).
8. Select the “Error Alert” tab and set the message for when an error occurs (e.g., “Entering anything other than a date causes an error”).
9. Click “OK” to save the settings.

That’s it!

I use these dates to link with my Outlook calendar for schedule management. I hope this is helpful. Thank you for reading.