Working days in Excel: NETWORKDAYS and WORKDAY explained
Count the working days between two dates, or find a deadline 10 working days away. NETWORKDAYS and WORKDAY with worked examples, holidays and weekends.
=NETWORKDAYS(start,end) counts the working days between two
dates. =WORKDAY(start,days) gives the date that many working days
later.
Both skip Saturdays and Sundays. Both can also skip a list of holidays. Neither one knows your public holidays, so you give it the list.
NETWORKDAYS: how many working days?
Here are two tasks and a list of days off.
| Row | A | B | C | D | E | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Task | Start | End | Working days | Days off | |
| 2 | Build | Mon 5 Oct 2026 | Fri 16 Oct 2026 | 10 | Fri 25 Dec 2026 | |
| 3 | Year end | Mon 21 Dec 2026 | Fri 8 Jan 2027 | 12 | Sat 26 Dec 2026 | |
| 4 | Mon 28 Dec 2026 | |||||
| 5 | Fri 1 Jan 2027 |
In D2, type =NETWORKDAYS(B2,C2). It gives 10. That is Monday to
Friday for 2 weeks.
NETWORKDAYS counts the start date and the end date. Monday to Friday of one week is 5, not 4.
A few more results, so you know what to expect:
- The same weekday as start and end gives 1.
- A Saturday as start and end gives 0.
-
An end date before the start gives a negative number.
=NETWORKDAYS(C2,B2)gives -10.
Leaving out holidays
The third argument is a range of dates to skip. Row 3 runs over Christmas and the new year. The days off are in F2:F5.
=NETWORKDAYS(B3,C3) gives 15. It only skips the weekends.
=NETWORKDAYS(B3,C3,$F$2:$F$5) gives 12. It skips 25 December,
28 December and 1 January too.
26 December 2026 is a Saturday. It is on the list, but it was never a working day. So it does not come off a second time.
Lock the holiday range with dollar signs. Without them, it moves down one row each time you fill the formula down. The last rows then miss some holidays and give no error.
WORKDAY: which date is it?
WORKDAY takes a start date and a number of working days. It gives the date at the end.
=WORKDAY(B2,10) gives Monday 19 October 2026. It is 10
working days on from Monday 5 October.
WORKDAY does not count the start date. Day 1 is Tuesday 6 October. Day 10 is Monday 19 October.
The answer can show as a number, like 46314. That is the date's serial number. Format the cell as a date and you see 19/10/2026 or 10/19/2026, depending on your settings.
Why the two functions seem to disagree
WORKDAY says 5 October plus 10 working days is 19 October. But
=NETWORKDAYS(B2,DATE(2026,10,19)) is not 10. It is 11.
Both are right. NETWORKDAYS counts both ends, so it counts 5 October too. WORKDAY starts counting the day after the start. Remember it this way:
- NETWORKDAYS counts the start and the end.
- WORKDAY counts from the day after the start.
A deadline with holidays
A job starts on Monday 21 December 2026 and takes 10 working days. When is it due?
=WORKDAY(B3,10) gives Monday 4 January 2027. It only skips the
weekends.
=WORKDAY(B3,10,$F$2:$F$5) gives Thursday 7 January 2027. The 3
holidays on weekdays push the deadline 3 working days later.
Start on a weekend, or count back
Start on a Saturday, 3 October 2026, and add 1 working day. WORKDAY skips the weekend. It gives Monday 5 October.
A negative number counts back. Say a report is due on Monday 19 October 2026. You want a
reminder 10 working days before.
=WORKDAY(DATE(2026,10,19),-10) gives Monday 5 October.
Days left until a deadline
=NETWORKDAYS(TODAY(),C2) gives the working days left until the
date in C2. It counts today too, if today is a working day.
TODAY() changes every day. That is right for a tracker you open each morning. For a report that must not change, type the date in a cell and use that cell instead.
A different weekend
Some countries and some teams do not rest on Saturday and Sunday. For them, use NETWORKDAYS.INTL and WORKDAY.INTL. They take a weekend argument after the dates.
=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(B2,C2,7) uses Friday and Saturday as the
weekend. For 5 to 16 October 2026 it gives 9, not 10.
You can also give the weekend as 7 digits, Monday first. A 1 means a day off. So
"0000110" is the same Friday and Saturday weekend.
Mistakes to look for
- Holidays typed into one formula. Keep them in one range and use that range in every formula.
- A holiday range without dollar signs. It moves when you fill down.
-
A date that is really text. If Excel cannot read it as a date, you get
#VALUE!. The #VALUE! error article shows how to fix it. - Expecting WORKDAY to count the start. It does not. NETWORKDAYS does.
Questions people ask
How do I check if a date is at the weekend?
For a date in A2, use =WEEKDAY(A2,2)>5. The 2 makes Monday day 1 and Sunday day
7. So Saturday is 6, and the test gives TRUE for Saturday and Sunday.
How do I count only the weekend days?
Take the working days away from all the days.
=C2-B2+1-NETWORKDAYS(B2,C2) gives 2 for 5 to 16 October 2026.
That is Saturday 10 and Sunday 11.
Does NETWORKDAYS know my country's holidays?
No. It only knows Saturday and Sunday. You type the holidays into a range yourself, once a year.
You can practise all of this in the Excel practice lessons. Each lesson is a real sheet you type into, and each answer is checked when you press Enter.