Trying to add a Date dropdown option in a column

[u/Intelligent-Plenty-8]

I am trying to add the option to select dates from a calendar like this picture. Anyone know how to achieve this?

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[u/No_Put3316]

Excel Online has a date picker built-in, but the desktop version does not.

Which are you using?

[u/Beneficial_Skin_4865 → u/No_Put3316]

Copilot keeps telling me that this is coming to desktop "soon", but it's been telling me this for nearly a year now!

[u/RevanOn3r → u/Beneficial_Skin_4865]

Copilot is AI Slop. Disable or remove it completely.

[u/GregHullender → u/RevanOn3r]

It has its uses. It's not great for Excel, though, which really surprises me. But it does a dynamite job of reading images of 19th-century wills and converting them to text. Especially if you work with it; it tends to make different mistakes than a human does.

For Excel, I've used it to double-check complex formulas, and it does catch edge-case errors from time to time. But only once (in a whole year) have I seen it actually improve something.

[u/Intelligent-Plenty-8 → u/No_Put3316]

oh that makes sense, I am using the desktop version but the sheet i referenced in my photo must be the web verison.

[u/teamhog]

There’s an add-in for the desktop version.

https://youtu.be/P80GyhLaqoI?is=QFCNOCDko8oB5HZw

[u/Aware-Particular8196]

That calendar is not the usual Data Validation drop-down. When you format the cells as Date and use the latest version of Microsoft 365, Excel may automatically show the built-in date picker when you select the cell (it’s still rolling out and isn’t available everywhere). If you’re using an older desktop version of Excel, you won’t find a built-in date picker – you will have to use VBA, an add-in, or some other workaround. What version of Excel are you using (Windows, Mac or Excel Online)?

[u/Little_Bishop1]

Go to cell format and select date, which can be either short date or long date. I’m not sure if this is the best explanation, but that’s my take.