Working Days Between Two Dates in Excel and Google Sheets
Use this formula in both Excel and Google Sheets:
=NETWORKDAYS(A2, B2, H2:H12)
- A2 = start date, B2 = end date, H2:H12 = your holiday dates.
- Both the start date and the end date are counted. Saturdays and Sundays are skipped.
- Check: 1 Jan 2026 to 31 Dec 2026 gives 261 without holidays and 250 with the 2026 US federal holidays below.
No spreadsheet open? Count the days with the free calculator instead.
Step by step in Excel
- Put the start date in
A2and the end date inB2. Type them as real dates (for example1/1/2026), not as text. - Paste the holiday dates from the next section into
H2:H12. - In
C2enter=NETWORKDAYS(A2, B2, $H$2:$H$12). The$signs keep the holiday range fixed when you copy the formula down to more rows.
2026 US federal holidays, ready to paste
These are the days federal offices are closed in 2026. When a holiday falls on a weekend, the closed day moves to the nearest weekday, and that weekday is the date your formula needs.
| Date to paste | Holiday |
|---|---|
| 2026-01-01 | New Year's Day |
| 2026-01-19 | Martin Luther King Jr. Day |
| 2026-02-16 | Washington's Birthday |
| 2026-05-25 | Memorial Day |
| 2026-06-19 | Juneteenth |
| 2026-07-03 | Independence Day (observed, July 4 is a Saturday) |
| 2026-09-07 | Labor Day |
| 2026-10-12 | Columbus Day |
| 2026-11-11 | Veterans Day |
| 2026-11-26 | Thanksgiving Day |
| 2026-12-25 | Christmas Day |
The July 3 trap in 2026
Most holiday lists online show Independence Day as July 4. In 2026 that is a Saturday, so NETWORKDAYS already skips it as a weekend day and the holiday changes nothing. Offices are actually closed on Friday, July 3.
- Holiday list with
2026-07-04: the full year returns 251. - Holiday list with
2026-07-03: the full year returns 250, the correct number.
The same thing happens whenever a fixed-date holiday (New Year's Day, Juneteenth, July 4, Veterans Day, Christmas) lands on a weekend. Always paste the observed weekday.
Google Sheets: the same formula, plus a no-range option
Google Sheets uses the same NETWORKDAYS function with the same rules, so =NETWORKDAYS(A2, B2, H2:H12) works unchanged. If you do not want a separate holiday column, put the dates inside the formula:
=NETWORKDAYS(A2, B2, {DATE(2026,1,1), DATE(2026,1,19), DATE(2026,2,16), DATE(2026,5,25), DATE(2026,6,19), DATE(2026,7,3), DATE(2026,9,7), DATE(2026,10,12), DATE(2026,11,11), DATE(2026,11,26), DATE(2026,12,25)})
Keeping the holidays in their own column (or on a separate tab) is easier to update next year.
Leaving out the start date or the end date
NETWORKDAYS always counts both ends. Many deadlines start counting the day after an event, so shift the start date by one day:
- Leave out the start date:
=NETWORKDAYS(A2+1, B2, H2:H12) - Leave out the end date:
=NETWORKDAYS(A2, B2-1, H2:H12)
Example with the 2026 list: 2 Nov 2026 (a Monday) to 30 Nov 2026 returns 19. Leaving out the start date returns 18. Veterans Day and Thanksgiving are skipped in both.
A different weekend: NETWORKDAYS.INTL
If your weekend is not Saturday and Sunday, use NETWORKDAYS.INTL. The third argument says which days are the weekend:
=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(A2, B2, 7, H2:H12)– Friday and Saturday off=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(A2, B2, 11, H2:H12)– Sunday only off=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(A2, B2, "0000110", H2:H12)– the same as code 7 written as seven digits, Monday first, 1 = day off
Fun check: 2026 has 261 working days with a Friday–Saturday weekend too, the same as with Saturday–Sunday, before holidays are removed.
Going the other way: a date N working days later
To find the date that is a number of working days after a start date, use WORKDAY. It starts counting on the day after the start date.
=WORKDAY(A2, 10, H2:H12)
Example: 10 working days after Friday 20 Nov 2026 is Monday 7 Dec 2026, because Thanksgiving (26 Nov) is skipped. Use a negative number to count backwards. For a custom weekend, WORKDAY.INTL takes the same weekend codes as above.
Check your sheet: 2026 working days by month
Count each month from the 1st to the last day with the holiday list above. If your sheet gives a different number, the holiday range or a text-formatted date is usually the cause.
| Month | Mon–Fri days | Federal holidays | Working days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22 | 2 | 20 |
| February | 20 | 1 | 19 |
| March | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| April | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| May | 21 | 1 | 20 |
| June | 22 | 1 | 21 |
| July | 23 | 1 | 22 |
| August | 21 | 0 | 21 |
| September | 22 | 1 | 21 |
| October | 22 | 1 | 21 |
| November | 21 | 2 | 19 |
| December | 23 | 1 | 22 |
| Full year | 261 | 11 | 250 |
By quarter: Q1 61, Q2 63, Q3 64, Q4 62.
Common problems
- #VALUE! error – one of the dates is text. Retype it, or wrap it as
DATEVALUE(A2). - Negative result – the start date is after the end date. NETWORKDAYS returns the count as a negative number; swap the cells.
- Result one too high – a holiday in your list falls on a weekend (see the July 3 trap), or you meant to leave out the start date.
- Blank cells in the holiday range – these are ignored, so you can leave room for extra company holidays.
Questions
Does NETWORKDAYS include the start and end date?
Yes. Both dates are counted when they are working days. 5 Jan 2026 (Monday) to 9 Jan 2026 (Friday) returns 5.
Does a holiday on a weekend get subtracted twice?
No. A date that is already a weekend day is skipped once. That is why the observed weekday has to be in your list.
Is NETWORKDAYS the same in Excel and Google Sheets?
Yes. The arguments and the results are the same, and both have NETWORKDAYS.INTL and WORKDAY.
How many working days are in 2026?
261 Monday-to-Friday days, and 250 after the 11 US federal holidays. State and company holidays lower it further.
All numbers on this page were produced with the Business Days Calculator on this site using the 2026 US federal holiday rules, and match what NETWORKDAYS returns with the holiday list above.