NETWORKDAYS in Excel: Count Working Days Between Dates
Count working days with NETWORKDAYS, exclude holidays, use custom weekends with NETWORKDAYS.INTL, and find a deadline with WORKDAY. Examples included.
By Ayoub Farid · · 1 min read
Project plans and SLAs count business days, not calendar days. NETWORKDAYS does that, skipping weekends and (optionally) holidays.
Syntax
=NETWORKDAYS(start_date, end_date, [holidays])Both start and end dates are counted if they're working days.
Example
Start 2 March 2026 (Monday) in B2, end 13 March 2026 (Friday) in C2:
=NETWORKDAYS(B2,C2) → 10Exclude holidays
List holiday dates in a range, e.g. F2:F12, and lock it:
=NETWORKDAYS(B2,C2,$F$2:$F$12)Different weekends
If your weekend isn't Saturday–Sunday, use NETWORKDAYS.INTL with a weekend code:
| Code | Weekend |
|---|---|
| 1 | Saturday, Sunday |
| 7 | Friday, Saturday |
| 11 | Sunday only |
=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(B2,C2,7,$F$2:$F$12)You can also pass a 7-character string like "0000011" (Monday first; 1 = day off).
Find a deadline: WORKDAY
Ten working days after a start date:
=WORKDAY(B2,10,$F$2:$F$12)WORKDAY.INTL takes the same weekend codes.
Frequently asked questions
How do I count working days between two dates?
=NETWORKDAYS(start,end), adding a holiday range as the third argument if needed.
Does NETWORKDAYS include the start date?
Yes, both start and end dates count if they're working days.
How do I set a Friday–Saturday weekend?
Use =NETWORKDAYS.INTL(start,end,7).
How do I add working days to a date?
Use WORKDAY: =WORKDAY(start,days,holidays).