Date format issue in excel report

Question

We are using "Export SQL to Excel" smart service from "Excel Tools" plugin to create an excel report. Even though we have set a column to date format (column data type is date as well, database is Oracle) in the excel template, the generated excel does not retain the date format. Is there a way to force excel recognize the cell values as date for a column? OriginalPostID-251711

Sally Mason · Answer

Thanks, I can see what you mean. The easiest way to resolve this is in Excel: 1. ***Remove Filters 2. Select the entire column contain the dates you wish to format 3. Press "Ctrl+h" to open "Find/Replace" 4. Replace all "-" with a " "(a single space) and click "Replace All" - this will only affect the selected column. 5. With the dates still selected, press "Ctrl+1" to open the Format dialog 6. In the Format Dialog, under "Category" choose "Custom" and enter "d-mmm-yy" and click OK - all dates now formatted as desired. Example attached.. Date Issue Solved.xlsx