Get the Year from a Date in Excel (YEAR, and grouping by year)

One function, and it is called what you would guess.

Steps

1. Dates in column A.
2. B1: =YEAR(A1). Enter. Drag down.

29-Sep-2026 → 2026, as a number you can sort and count.

As text (e.g. for labels)

=TEXT(A1, "yyyy")

Two-digit year: "yy" → 26.

Fiscal year (starting April)

=IF(MONTH(A1)>=4, YEAR(A1), YEAR(A1)-1)

Label like FY 2026-27: see quarter from date.

Total per year

Years in B, amounts in C. In E1 type 2026, F1: =SUMIF(B:B, E1, C:C). Count instead: =COUNTIF(B:B, E1).

Or a pivot: Date to Rows › right-click › Group › Years.

Is the date this year?

=YEAR(A1)=YEAR(TODAY())

Change the year, keep the day and month

=DATE(2027, MONTH(A1), DAY(A1))

Check it worked

The result is right-aligned (a number). =YEAR("29-Sep-2026") typed directly gives 2026.

Common mistake

#VALUE! — the date is text. Fix: convert text to date.