The MONTH function in Google Sheets is a versatile tool that allows users to easily extract the month component of a date in numeric form. This function is particularly useful for financial analyses, project management, and any task requiring a breakdown of data by month.

Syntax

MONTH(date)

• date: A date formatted as a date value or a cell reference containing the date. This is the date from which the month will be extracted.

Example #1

=MONTH("2023-10-05")

This function call returns the month of the provided date, yielding a result of 10, which corresponds to October.

Example #2

=MONTH(A1)

If cell A1 contains the date 2023-05-15, this formula will return 5, indicating May as the extracted month.

Example #3

=MONTH(DATE(2022, 12, 25))

In this case, the function extracts the month from December 25, 2022, and returns 12, representing December.

Error handling

• VALUE!: This error occurs when the input provided to the MONTH function is not a valid date, such as text or a non-date number.
• N/A: This error indicates that the date value is unrecognized, possibly due to incorrect formatting.
• NUM!: This error relates to invalid inputs, such as a date that is too far in the past or future, resulting in an inability to compute the month.

Conclusion

The MONTH function in Google Sheets provides an efficient way to extract the month from any valid date. Its straightforward syntax and versatility make it a fundamental tool for anyone working with date-related data in spreadsheets. By understanding how to use this function effectively, users can enhance their data analysis capabilities.