Note: Date and time formats that begin with an asterisk (*) respond to changes in regional date and time settings that are specified in Control Panel. In the Type list, click the date or time format that you want to use. In the Category list, click Date or Time. You can also press CTRL+1 to open the Format Cells dialog box. On the Home tab, in the Number group, click the Dialog Box Launcher next to Number. Again, you can customize the way the time appears in the Format Cells dialog box. Similarly, if you type 9:30 a or 9:30 p in a cell, Excel will interpret this as a time and display 9:30 AM or 9:30 PM.
If this isn't what you want-for example, if you would rather show Februor 2/2/09 in the cell-you can choose a different date format in the Format Cells dialog box, as explained in the following procedure. For example, if you type 2/2 in a cell, Excel automatically interprets this as a date and displays 2-Feb in the cell. You can format dates and times as you type. You can display numbers in several other date and time formats, most of which are not affected by Control Panel settings.
This default format is based on the regional date and time settings that are specified in Control Panel, and changes when you adjust those settings in Control Panel. When you type a date or time in a cell, it appears in a default date and time format.
