convert now() to general

[lezawang]

Hi
I typed =now() and I got 4/25/19 8:31, then I changed cell format to general and I got 43580.3552
My question, how can I get 4/25/19 8:31 back (day and time) from that number 43580.3552 ? (suppose undo is not working)

 

[sadboy309]

You click right mouse on cells, Format Cells > Custom > Type: mm/dd/yyyy h:mm:ss > click Ok.

 

[Fluff]

Format the cell as date & time

 

[Joe4]

They are really the same value.
It is important to understand how dates and times work in Excel. Dates are just whole numbers, specifically the number of days since 1/0/1900, and time is just the fractional component of one day.
To easily see this, enter any day/time, and change the format to "General".
So a Date/Time is just a number with a Custom Format.

So all you need to get your date/time back is just change the format to a date/time number format.