In this quick guide, I’ll show you how to convert month numbers to names in Excel for clarity in data visualization.

Processing month names as numbers in Excel, like using 1 for January, 2 for February, and so on, might make calculations easier. However, it’s far from professional or visually appealing when presenting data.

That’s where your skill to convert month numbers into full names comes into play. If you’re unsure how to do this or want to explore more efficient methods, this guide has you covered. Stick around, and we’ll walk you through the process step by step.

Using the Format Cells Tool

The Format Cells tool in Excel allows you to present numerical data in different ways by using custom number formatting codes.

For example, you can show the month numbers in the above dataset by selecting the cells in column B, pressing Ctrl + 1 to call the Format Cells dialog box, and entering a custom number formatting code in the Type field of the Custom category. This special code is m in the small case.

Now, you can only see numbers rather than months in the Incorporated Months column.

If you wish to show full month names instead of numerical values, select column B, or the column in your worksheet you’re testing this technique on.

Bring up the Format Cells dialog and apply the mmmm custom code in the Type field of the Custom category.

Click OK to apply the changes.

You’ve successfully converted months expressed in numerical values to months in text form.

However, the visual you see is only a virtual rendering and the content of column B is still in the Short Date or Long Date format, the originating date entries.

📒 Read More: 5 Ways To Convert Month to Number in Microsoft Excel

Using the TEXT Function

The most popular way to convert month numbers to their corresponding names is using different formulas of the TEXT function. It’ll work on three different data types. I’ve given samples for each data type so you can pick one that matches your requirements.

Short and Long Dates

In the above dataset, the month entries are in the Short Date format.

Select the destination cell and type in the following formula into it:

=TEXT(B2,"mmmm")

Make sure you edit the cell range reference only, which is B2.

Now, hit Enter to calculate the cell.

Select this cell again and drag the fill handle down the column to copy and paste the formula into the rest of the cells.

Excel will automatically calculate these cells as you drag the fill handle down.

Numeric Month Number

Sometimes, you could get month entries in the General number format as shown in the above sample dataset.

If you wish to transform such numeric values into their corresponding month names use a combination formula of TEXT and DATE. The DATE function tells Excel that the selected numeric value is a Short Date and the TEXT function converts the Short Date into a month name.

Organize your dataset as the sample data shown above. Then use this formula in the destination cell:

=TEXT(DATE(2024, A2, 1), "mmmm")

You can replicate the formula in the rest of the cells using the fill handle.

Finally, you’ve got the month names you’re looking for.

Text String Representing a Date

Suppose your input dataset of month entries is in text form. For example, as ‘1/1/2025, which is essentially a text and not a Short Date. In this scenario you can use this formula instead:

=TEXT(DATEVALUE(A2), "mmmm")

The rest of the steps are the same as explained earlier.

Using SWITCH Function

If you’re using Excel 2019 or a newer edition you can use the SWITCH function to create a simple formula to replace month numbers with month names. It’s compatible with the following input data types:

Numeric Month Numbers

If your source dataset contains simple 1s, 2s, 3s, etc., and you wish to translate these into month names, use this formula in all of the destination cells:

=SWITCH(A2, 1, "January", 2, "February", 3, "March", 4, "April", 5, "May", 6, "June", 7, "July", 8, "August", 9, "September", 10, "October", 11, "November", 12, "December", "Invalid")

Change the cell reference, A2, with an appropriate cell address from your worksheet.

Short Dates

If your input dataset of month entries is in the Excel Short Date format use the following combination formula involving the SWITCH and MONTH functions:

=SWITCH(MONTH(B2), 1, "January", 2, "February", 3, "March", 4, "April", 5, "May", 6, "June", 7, "July", 8, "August", 9, "September", 10, "October", 11, "November", 12, "December", "Invalid")

Text Strings Representing Month Numbers

Does your worksheet containing month entries look exactly like the sample dataset shown above?

It means you’re using numerals in the text string format. When Excel cell contents align to the left the cell is in text string formatting mode.

For such a dataset, use the following SWITCH formula instead. In this formula, the VALUE function converts the numeric values into number formats and the SWITCH function converts numeric months to month names.

=SWITCH(VALUE(A2), 1, "January", 2, "February", 3, "March", 4, "April", 5, "May", 6, "June", 7, "July", 8, "August", 9, "September", 10, "October", 11, "November", 12, "December", "Invalid")

Using Power Query Editor

For a large dataset, it’s often recommended to use Power Query to transform the imported dataset before adding it to the active worksheet.

It comes with various external data connector options that you can choose from. You can find those in the Data tab > by clicking the Get Data command.

In this Excel tutorial, I’ll show the technique by exporting a dataset from the active worksheet.

So, select the source dataset you wish to load into the Power Query Editor.

Click on the From Table/Range command in the Data tab.

Hit the OK button on the Create Table dialog to finish.

You’ll see your Excel worksheet data in the Power Query Editor interface.

Let’s consider you’ve imported a dataset into Power Query containing month entries in the numeric month number format. This is the same as shown in the above screenshot.

Now, click on the Add Column tab and select the Custom Column command.

The Custom Column wizard will show up.

Type in a text in the New column name field which later becomes the column header for the custom column you’ll be creating shortly.

Now, enter the following Power Query M code into the Custom column formula field:

Date.MonthName(#date(2024, [Month], 1))

You must replace the code element [Month] with an appropriate column name according to your own Power Query Editor interface.

Click OK to create the new column.

You should already see that you’ve successfully converted month numbers to names in Power Query.

Click on the File menu and select Close & Load To from the context menu.

The Import Data dialog box will show up. Select the Existing worksheet option and highlight a cell on the active worksheet where you want the imported data. Click OK.

That’s it! You’ve imported the transformed data into an Excel worksheet. You can now remove the earlier data columns to eliminate redundancies.

If the source dataset is in the text string format, follow the same steps as mentioned so far to load your data in the Power Query Editor tool.

Power Query will automatically convert the text strings into numbers. You can now follow the rest of the steps to transform this data into month names.

However, if the source dataset is in the Short Dates format, the task becomes easier as you don’t need to apply any formula to create a new column with the necessary month names.

Import your input dataset into the Power Query Editor as shown in the screenshot.

Go to the Transform tab and click on the Date drop-down arrow in the Date & Time Column block.

Click on Month and then choose Name of Month within the Transform tab.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully converted Short Dates to month names.

Use the Close & Load To command to export the transformed data to an Excel worksheet by following the steps mentioned previously.

Conclusions

Now you know how to convert month numbers to names in Excel.

Which method did you like the most? Comment below to share your choice with me. If you know of a better technique that I might have missed, mention that in your reply.