Excel functions / Dates
NETWORKDAYS
Counts the working days between two dates, leaving out weekends.
Syntax
=NETWORKDAYS(start_date, end_date, [holidays])Arguments
start_date, end_date | The two dates. Both are counted if they are weekdays. |
|---|---|
holidays | Optional. A range of dates to leave out as well. |
How it works
Subtracting two dates gives calendar days. NETWORKDAYS gives working days, Monday to Friday, which is what project plans and service deadlines usually need.
Add a list of public holidays as the third argument to skip those too.
Example
| A | B | C | D | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Task | Start | End | ||
| 2 | Design | 2026-01-01 | 2026-01-15 | 11 | |
| 3 | Build | 2026-01-15 | 2026-02-14 | ||
| 4 |
Result: 11. Weekdays from the start to the end of the Design task.
Tips
- WORKDAY does the reverse: it finds the date a number of working days from a start date.
Practise NETWORKDAYS
Try it yourself in a real spreadsheet, with instant feedback on every answer.