How do I validate a date from a list of dates in excel? ?

Question

my objective is to return a value of 1 when a date is entered and validated against a list of dates? not sure if there is a command in excel that I can use. I tried the lookup commands but i think i'm doing it wrong?

Answer 1

Assuming you enter the date in cell A1, and the list of dates is in cells C1:C10:

This formula will result in 1 if the date is on the list, or zero otherwise.

=IF( COUNTIF($C$1:$C$10,A1) = 0, 0, 1 )

If you are trying to error-proof your sheet, then you might want to use "data validation".  Select cell A1, go to: Tools > Data Validation > choose: list, and highlight your date list.  This will make it so A1 is a pull-down menu and the user can only choose a date from your list.