Excel NETWORKDAYS: working days between two dates

NETWORKDAYS counts the working days between two dates — Saturdays and Sundays are skipped, and you can skip holidays too.

The formula

=NETWORKDAYS(start_date, end_date, [holidays])

Both the start and end dates are counted if they’re working days.

Example

=NETWORKDAYS("01-10-2026","31-10-2026")

October 2026 has 22 weekdays.

Skip holidays

List holiday dates in H2:H10 (Gandhi Jayanti 02-Oct, Dussehra, Diwali…):

=NETWORKDAYS(A2,B2,$H$2:$H$10)

Keep the holiday list on its own sheet and lock the range with $.

Other weekends: NETWORKDAYS.INTL

=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(A2,B2,weekend,holidays)

Second and fourth Saturdays off? There’s no code — count them as holidays.

Working days left until a deadline

=NETWORKDAYS(TODAY(),C2,$H$2:$H$10)

The reverse: a date N working days away

That’s WORKDAY. All calendar days, not just working ones: days between dates.

#VALUE!

One of the dates is text. Check with =ISNUMBER(A2) and fix with convert text to date.