Excel NETWORKDAYS Function
NETWORKDAYS Function
The NETWORKDAYS function is a premade function in Excel, which counts the working days between two dates.
Working days are Monday to Friday. Saturdays and Sundays are left out, and you can also leave out a list of holidays.
It is typed =NETWORKDAYS and has the following parts:
=NETWORKDAYS(start_date, end_date, [holidays])
Note: The different parts of the function are separated by a symbol, like comma , or semicolon ;
The symbol depends on your Language Settings.
Start_date: The first date.
End_date: The last date.
Holidays: Optional. A range of dates that are not working days, like public holidays.
Note: NETWORKDAYS counts both the start date and the end date, if they are working days.
How to use the NETWORKDAYS function:
- Select a cell (
D2) - Type
=NETWORKDAYS - Double click the NETWORKDAYS command
- Select the start date (
B2) - Type (
,) - Select the end date (
C2) - Hit enter
Let's have a look at an example!
This table shows five Poke Mart orders (example data), with the date each order was placed and the date it was delivered. Column H has the days the Poke Mart is closed for holidays. Copy it and paste it into cell A1:
Example data
A B C D E F G H 1 Customer Order Date Delivered Holidays 2 Ash 2026-09-28 2026-10-02 2026-10-12 3 Misty 2026-10-01 2026-10-08 2026-11-26 4 Brock 2026-10-09 2026-10-14 2026-12-25 5 Dawn 2026-11-20 2026-11-30 2027-01-01 6 Gary 2026-12-18 2027-01-05
Note: Excel may show the dates in another format, like 9/28/2026, depending on your settings. The results are the same.
Type Working Days in D1. Type this formula in D2 and fill it down to D6:
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Customer | Order Date | Delivered | Working Days | Holidays | |||
| 2 | Ash | 2026-09-28 | 2026-10-02 | 5 | 2026-10-12 | |||
| 3 | Misty | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-08 | 6 | 2026-11-26 | |||
| 4 | Brock | 2026-10-09 | 2026-10-14 | 4 | 2026-12-25 | |||
| 5 | Dawn | 2026-11-20 | 2026-11-30 | 7 | 2027-01-01 | |||
| 6 | Gary | 2026-12-18 | 2027-01-05 | 13 |
=NETWORKDAYS(B2, C2)
Ash's order was placed on Monday 2026-09-28 and delivered on Friday 2026-10-02. NETWORKDAYS counts Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, so the result is 5.
Brock's order was placed on Friday 2026-10-09 and delivered on Wednesday 2026-10-14. The weekend is left out, so NETWORKDAYS counts Friday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday: 4 working days.
Leave Out Holidays
Add the holidays as the third part, to leave them out as well. The holidays are in H2:H5.
Type Excl. Holidays in E1. Type this formula in E2 and fill it down to E6:
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Customer | Order Date | Delivered | Working Days | Excl. Holidays | Holidays | ||
| 2 | Ash | 2026-09-28 | 2026-10-02 | 5 | 5 | 2026-10-12 | ||
| 3 | Misty | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-08 | 6 | 6 | 2026-11-26 | ||
| 4 | Brock | 2026-10-09 | 2026-10-14 | 4 | 3 | 2026-12-25 | ||
| 5 | Dawn | 2026-11-20 | 2026-11-30 | 7 | 6 | 2027-01-01 | ||
| 6 | Gary | 2026-12-18 | 2027-01-05 | 13 | 11 |
=NETWORKDAYS(B2, C2, $H$2:$H$5)
Monday 2026-10-12 is a holiday, so Brock's order has 3 working days instead of 4. Dawn's order has the holiday on Thursday 2026-11-26, so the result is 6 instead of 7.
Gary's order was placed on 2026-12-18 and delivered on 2027-01-05. Two holidays, 2026-12-25 and 2027-01-01, are in between, so the result is 11 instead of 13.
Note: The $ signs make $H$2:$H$5 an absolute reference. The holidays range stays the same when you fill the formula down. See Absolute References.
Note: A holiday that falls on a Saturday or a Sunday is not subtracted again. It is already left out as a weekend day.
Working Days vs. Calendar Days
If you subtract one date from another, you get the number of days between them, weekends included. This works because Excel stores dates as numbers. See TODAY.
Type Calendar Days in F1. Type this formula in F2 and fill it down to F6:
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Customer | Order Date | Delivered | Working Days | Excl. Holidays | Calendar Days | Holidays | |
| 2 | Ash | 2026-09-28 | 2026-10-02 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2026-10-12 | |
| 3 | Misty | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-08 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 2026-11-26 | |
| 4 | Brock | 2026-10-09 | 2026-10-14 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 2026-12-25 | |
| 5 | Dawn | 2026-11-20 | 2026-11-30 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 2027-01-01 | |
| 6 | Gary | 2026-12-18 | 2027-01-05 | 13 | 11 | 18 |
=C2-B2
Note: If the results look like dates, change the format of column F to General or Number. See Number Formats.
For Ash, =C2-B2 returns 4, but NETWORKDAYS returns 5. Subtracting does not count the start date, and NETWORKDAYS counts both the start date and the end date.
Note: If the start date is later than the end date, NETWORKDAYS returns a negative number. For example, =NETWORKDAYS(C2, B2) returns -5 for Ash.
See Also
If your weekend is not Saturday and Sunday, use NETWORKDAYS.INTL, where a weekend code chooses the days off, like 11 for Sunday only.
TODAY returns the current date. =NETWORKDAYS(TODAY(), C2) counts the working days from today until the date in C2.
DATEDIF counts the complete years, months or days between two dates.
