How to Calculate Working Days Between Two Dates in Excel
Project timelines, SLAs, and payment terms are counted in business days, not calendar days — so you need to skip weekends and public holidays. Excel can do it, but the right function and the weekend rules trip people up. Here's the clean way.
Last updated: September 2026
| Start | End | Working days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 1 Jan | Fri 5 Jan | → | 5 |
| Mon 1 Jan | Mon 8 Jan | → | 6 |
Method 1 — NETWORKDAYS
=NETWORKDAYS(A2, B2)counts the weekdays from A2 to B2, inclusive, dropping Saturdays and Sundays.- Add a holiday range to skip those too:
=NETWORKDAYS(A2, B2, $H$2:$H$20). - Copy down. Simple — but it hard-codes a Saturday–Sunday weekend.
Method 2 — NETWORKDAYS.INTL (custom weekend)
For a Friday–Saturday week (common across the GCC) use the .INTL variant with a weekend code: =NETWORKDAYS.INTL(A2, B2, 7, $H$2:$H$20) — code 7 is Friday–Saturday. The codes are easy to get wrong, and this function isn't available on every older build.
The 1-click way — Tellsheet
Working Days adds a business-day count for a whole table at once. Pick the start and end date columns, choose the weekend (Saturday–Sunday, Friday–Saturday, Friday only, Sunday only, or none), and paste any holidays to skip. It reads real Excel dates and text dates alike, the count is inclusive like NETWORKDAYS, and it previews before it writes. Pairs with Date Calculator and Date Difference.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate working days between two dates?
=NETWORKDAYS(start, end, holidays), or Tellsheet's Working Days tool for a whole column with a configurable weekend.
How do I exclude holidays?
Give NETWORKDAYS a holiday range, or paste the dates into Tellsheet's holiday box.
Can I use a Friday–Saturday weekend?
Yes — NETWORKDAYS.INTL with code 7, or the weekend picker in Tellsheet's Working Days.
Is the count inclusive of both dates?
Yes — like NETWORKDAYS, both endpoints are counted when they're working days.
Related Excel guides
Count business days across a whole column
Working Days skips weekends and your holidays — with a Friday–Saturday option — right inside Excel.
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