Let me help you learn how to add 6 months to a date in Excel using tried and tested methods.

Working with dates in Excel can sometimes feel like walking through a maze. You might try to add six months to a date and feel overwhelmed by the formulas. I have been there, and I understand how challenging this task can be.

Think of it like a financial analyst setting up a timeline for a project. Every date must be precise, and one small error can cause major issues. This tutorial shows you some of the best methods to add six months to a date in Excel. I will guide you step by step through these processes. Let’s get started!

Using the EDATE Function

The EDATE function in Excel returns a number that corresponds to a date that is a specified number of months before or after a given start date. It takes two arguments, and these are start_date (a valid date) and the months (a positive or negative integer to move forward or backward in months).

You might want to prefer this method over any other method because it accurately accounts for varying month lengths (e.g., February vs. July). Also, it’s easy to use! You simply need to include the start date and type in the months to be added.

Navigate to the Excel worksheet containing the date entries to which you need to add 6 months.

Create a column named Months to Add and End Date to the right side of the existing dataset.

Enter the number 6 in the first cell below the Months to Add column.

Click on the fill handle and drag it down to copy and paste the value in the first cell to the rest of the cells in the column as needed.

Now, go to the first cell below the End Date column and enter the following formula into it:

=EDATE(B2,C2) 

Don’t forget to change the cell range references in the above formula, where B2 is for the start date value and C2 is for 6 months to be added to the start date component.

Hit Enter to calculate the numeric value of the date after adding 6 months to the starting date.

Select the first cell again and drag down the fill handle to apply the same formula to the rest of the cells in the End Date column.

Now, click on the column letter D, go to the Home tab, and click on the General drop-down menu in the Alignment block.

Select Short Date or Long Date from the list that shows up.

Excel should convert the numbers in column D to actual dates.

This manual method is best for working on a small to medium dataset. However, you can only use this function if you’re using Excel 2016 or any of the newer editions.

Using the DATE Function

The DATE function in Excel creates a date based on the year, month, and day you specify. It takes three arguments: year, month, and day. In the syntax, you can use cell references or direct values to represent these components.

This function is useful for adding months because it gives you precise control over the date breakdown. You can keep the year and day component intact. This function should be the go-to option if you’re using a dated Excel desktop app.

To use this function, go to the source dataset and create two helper columns: Add Months and End Date.

Enter the number 6 in the Add Months column, since you wish to add 6 months to a date.

In the first cell of the End Date column, enter the following formula:

=DATE(YEAR(B2), MONTH(B2)+C2, DAY(B2))

In the above formula, you should change the cell reference B2 to an appropriate cell address depending on your own dataset.

Hit Enter to calculate the cell.

Now, click on the fill handle and drag it down until the last cell where data exists in the adjacent cells.

Excel will copy and paste the same formula across the column and show the future dates after adding 6 months in the DD/MM/YYYY format.

Using WORKDAY.INTL for Business Days

When calculating the start and end dates in a workplace, you need to factor in the weekends and holidays. The WORKDAY.INTL function steps in here. It returns a date which is a specified number of working days before or after a given start date. It also allows you to customize and exclude weekends and holidays.

It takes four arguments: start_date (the initial date), days (the number of business days to add or subtract), weekend (a number or string defining which days are weekends), and an optional holidays range (a list of dates to exclude).

Unlike DATE or EDATE, which add months without considering business days, WORKDAY.INTL ensures that the final date falls on a valid working day. So, this is the best function to calculate future dates after adding certain months to a date, especially for business and financial needs that must exclude weekends and holidays.

Now, let me show you how to use this Excel function for date calculations in a real-world scenario.

Create an End Date column in your source dataset. Also, if there are any holidays you need to exclude from the final calculation, create a separate column. Now, enter the holidays in the cells below the column.

Select the first cell below the End Date column header and type in the following formula into it:

=WORKDAY.INTL(B2,22*6,1,$E$2:$E$5)     

Here’s how you should customize the formula given above:

• B2: This is the start date argument. Change it according to your own dataset.
• 22*6: It’s the number of working days in a month, excluding two weekends, and multiplied by 6 since you’re adding 6 months to a date.
• Number 1: This is the argument for Saturday and Sunday weekends. You can choose other combinations as well. This argument takes values between 1 to 17. Refer to the formula context menu to learn the number and its corresponding weekend structure.
• $E$2:$E$5: This is the fixed cell range for the holidays to be excluded from the final date calculation. Change the cell range reference for this argument according to your own worksheet. If there are no holidays to be excluded, delete this part from the formula.

Hit Enter to calculate the End Date cell.

Use the fill handle and drag it down to replicate the formula in the rest of the cells of the End Date column.

Excel will quickly calculate the numerical values for future dates after adding 6 months to the given dates, excluding weekends and holidays.

Select the End Date column and apply the Short Date format from the Home > Number block > General drop-down menu.

You can now see the actual MM/DD/YYYY format for the calculated dates.

Adding Months With Power Query

Power Query is built right into Excel and totally free, making it a solid choice for adding six months to a date without messing with complex formulas. Instead of tweaking formulas in every cell, you can apply the change once and let Power Query do the complex calculating. It keeps things neat, efficient, and way easier to manage.

The best part? You set up the query once, and it works every time—no need to redo anything when new data comes in. That means fewer mistakes and a lot more consistency in your reports. Plus, it handles way more rows and columns than Excel itself, so you can clean up big datasets and cut out extra clutter without slowing things down.

Now, let me walk you through the simple steps below:

Load Your Data into Power Query

There are two ways to load your dataset to the Power Query Editor interface.

Firstly, you might want to import data from an external server or a web app. For that, open the destination worksheet and navigate to the Data tab.

Now, click on the Get Data command and hover the cursor over the desired data connector source, like From Azure.

An overflow menu will open on the right side of the existing context menu. There, you can select the actual data connector, like From Azure SQL Database.

Now, follow the onscreen instructions in your Azure SQL Database API dialog box to complete the data import process.

If you wish to send data to Power Query from the active worksheet, select the source data and click on the From Table/Range command in the Data tab.

Click OK on the Create Table dialog box to export the dataset to the Power Query Editor.

You should now see your working dataset in Power Query.

Add Six Months to the Date Column

Now, go to the Add Column tab in the Power Query Editor.

Click on the Custom Column command.

The Custom Column dialog box will open.

Type in a column name of your choice in the New column name field.

Now, enter the following formula into the Custom Colum Formula field.

=Date.AddMonths([Maturity], 6) 

In the above formula, you only need to change the column reference named Maturity and replace that with a column of your choice.

Click OK to create the new column.

Power Query will add 6 months to all the given cells in the designated cell range and create a new column.

Now, go to the Transform tab. Select the new column and click on the Data Type drop-down menu in the Any Column block.

Load the Data Back to Excel

Click on the File menu and choose Close & Load To.

The Import Data dialog box will open. There, select the Existing worksheet options and click on the destination cell on the active worksheet.

Select OK to complete the data export process.

You can delete the old data in the active worksheet to reduce redundant data.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully used Power Query to add 6 months to a date in Excel.

Conclusions

You can try any or all of the above methods to add 6 months to a date in Excel to get end dates for projects, tasks, and so on.

All the above methods have their own benefits and drawbacks, so choose the final method that you’ll use based on the actual scenario you’re solving.

If the Excel tutorial helped you, comment below.