Part of the free Module 5: Excel Formulas and Functions · Function 63 of 105 · Full Excel course
The Excel NETWORKDAYS.INTL function returns the number of working days between two dates while letting you define which days of the week count as the weekend and which dates are holidays. It extends NETWORKDAYS, which is fixed to Saturday and Sunday, so it suits Friday-Saturday weekends, six-day working weeks and any custom rest-day pattern. It is available in Excel 2010 and later.
Syntax
=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(start_date, end_date, [weekend], [holidays])Arguments
| Argument | Required / Optional | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| start_date | Required | The first date of the period, as a real date. |
| end_date | Required | The last date of the period. Both ends are counted when they are working days. |
| weekend | Optional | A number from the table below, or a 7-character text string of 1s and 0s starting with Monday where 1 marks a non-working day. Default is 1 (Saturday and Sunday). |
| holidays | Optional | A range or array of dates to exclude in addition to the weekend. |
Weekend codes
| Code | Weekend days | Code | Weekend day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 or omitted | Saturday, Sunday | 11 | Sunday only |
| 2 | Sunday, Monday | 12 | Monday only |
| 3 | Monday, Tuesday | 13 | Tuesday only |
| 4 | Tuesday, Wednesday | 14 | Wednesday only |
| 5 | Wednesday, Thursday | 15 | Thursday only |
| 6 | Thursday, Friday | 16 | Friday only |
| 7 | Friday, Saturday | 17 | Saturday only |
The string form is more flexible: "0000011" equals code 1, "0000001" equals code 11, and "0100010" makes Tuesday and Saturday the rest days. A string of seven 1s returns #VALUE! because no working days remain.
Step-by-step example: working days with a Friday-Saturday weekend
- Enter 1 September 2026 in A2 and 30 September 2026 in B2. List public holidays in E2:E6.
- In C2 enter
=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(A2,B2,7). The result is 22 working days with Friday and Saturday excluded. - In D2 enter
=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(A2,B2,7,$E$2:$E$6)to remove the holidays as well. - Change the third argument to
11to model a six-day week with Sunday off; the count rises to 26.
Practical use cases
1. Retail staff who work Saturdays
=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(A2,B2,11,Holidays)2. Individual rest-day patterns from a roster table
=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(A2,B2,VLOOKUP(C2,Roster,2,FALSE),Holidays)The roster table stores each employee’s weekend string, such as “0000110” for a Friday-Saturday weekend.
3. Count only Mondays between two dates
=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(A2,B2,"0111111")Marking every day except Monday as a weekend turns the function into a weekday counter.
4. Working days in the current month for a Gulf office
=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(EOMONTH(TODAY(),-1)+1,EOMONTH(TODAY(),0),7,Holidays)5. Business-day SLA with a Sunday-only weekend
=NETWORKDAYS.INTL(Opened,Closed,11,Holidays)-1Common mistakes and tips
- String order: the seven characters run Monday to Sunday, not Sunday to Saturday. “1000000” marks Monday as the rest day.
- Numbers 8, 9 and 10 are invalid: only 1 to 7 and 11 to 17 are accepted; anything else returns #NUM!.
- Text holidays: dates stored as text in the holiday range are ignored silently. Keep them as real dates.
- Inclusive count: like NETWORKDAYS, both end dates are counted if they are working days.
- Excel 2007 and earlier: the function does not exist and returns #NAME?.
NETWORKDAYS.INTL compared with NETWORKDAYS and WORKDAY.INTL
NETWORKDAYS is a special case of NETWORKDAYS.INTL with the weekend fixed to code 1, so the two return identical results for a standard Monday-to-Friday week; use the shorter name when the weekend never changes and the .INTL version whenever the pattern varies by country, site or employee. WORKDAY.INTL is the mirror image: it takes a start date and a number of working days and returns the finishing date, using the same weekend codes and strings, which makes it the function for deadlines and delivery dates. Keeping the weekend code in a named cell such as WeekendCode, and holidays in a named range, lets every counting and scheduling formula in the workbook share one set of assumptions.
Related functions
- NETWORKDAYS: working days with a fixed Saturday-Sunday weekend.
- WORKDAY.INTL: end date after a number of working days with a custom weekend.
- WORKDAY: end date after working days with a standard weekend.
- WEEKDAY: returns the day of the week for a date.
- See all lessons in the Excel Formulas course.
Frequently asked questions
How do I set a Friday and Saturday weekend in NETWORKDAYS.INTL?
Use weekend code 7, or the string “0000110”. Both mark Friday and Saturday as non-working days.
What does the weekend string in NETWORKDAYS.INTL mean?
It is seven characters for Monday to Sunday. A 1 marks a non-working day and a 0 a working day, so “0000011” is the standard Saturday-Sunday weekend.
What is the difference between NETWORKDAYS and NETWORKDAYS.INTL?
NETWORKDAYS always excludes Saturday and Sunday. NETWORKDAYS.INTL adds a weekend argument so you can choose any one or two rest days, or a custom pattern.
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