Written and reviewed by FormulaCraft Team. Each formula on this page is run through our verification engine before publishing.
Last reviewed:
How to check if a date falls on a weekend in Excel and Google Sheets
Excel & Google Sheets
=OR(WEEKDAY(A2,2)=6,WEEKDAY(A2,2)=7)Try it with your data
Edit the grid or formula, then run it through a real spreadsheet engine — no signup.
Sample data — click any cell to edit
Runs server-side · free · no signup
Step by step
- 1Enter your date in A2.
- 2In a result cell, enter =OR(WEEKDAY(A2,2)=6,WEEKDAY(A2,2)=7).
- 3WEEKDAY with return_type 2 makes Monday=1 through Sunday=7. Values 6 and 7 are Saturday and Sunday.
- 4This returns TRUE for weekends and FALSE for weekdays.
- 5For a friendlier label, wrap in IF: =IF(OR(WEEKDAY(A2,2)=6,WEEKDAY(A2,2)=7),"Weekend","Weekday").
Tips
- A shorter alternative using return_type 1 (Sunday=1): =WEEKDAY(A2,1)>5 returns TRUE for Saturday (7) and Sunday (1)... but this logic doesn't work cleanly with type 1 since Sunday=1 is not >5. Stick with type 2 for a clean 6-7 check.
Working on a sheet you inherited? Run the Auditor on the whole file first — it flags every #REF!, #N/A, broken column pattern, and inconsistent formula in seconds, free, no signup.
Frequently asked
Is there a simpler one-argument version?
Yes: =WEEKDAY(A2)>5 uses the default return type where Saturday=7 and Sunday=1. Unfortunately Sunday=1 is not >5, so only Saturdays would be caught. Use return_type 2 or =WEEKDAY(A2)=1 for Sunday separately.
How do I use this with conditional formatting to shade weekend columns?
In conditional formatting, enter the formula =OR(WEEKDAY(A$1,2)=6,WEEKDAY(A$1,2)=7) where row 1 holds the dates. Lock the row with $ so the formula checks the header date for every row in the column.