NETWORKDAYS Function in Google Sheets: Explained

In this article, you will learn how to use the NETWORKDAYS Function in Google Sheets.

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What is the use of the NETWORKDAYS function in Google Sheets?

The NETWORKDAYS formula returns the number of working days between the two dates given, excluding holidays specified. The NETWORKDAYS function is beneficial when you want to compute the number of days between two dates (e.g., a project period), considering the number of holidays.

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How do I use the NETWORKDAYS formula in Google Sheets?

1. Type “=NETWORKDAYS” or go to “Insert” → “Function” (or directly navigate to the “Functions” icon)  → “Date” → “NETWORKDAYS”.
2. Input the starting and ending dates, and holidays to exclude, if any.
3. Press the “Enter” key.

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The general syntax of the NETWORKDAYS formula is as follows:

=NETWORKDAYS(start_date, end_date, [holidays])

Start_date: The starting date of an event or project, etc.

End_date: The number of working days you expect to work

Holidays [Optional]: Dates of holidays you want to take into account

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Let’s see the examples in the following picture to understand how the NETWORKDAYS function works in Google Sheets. Look at the table at the top right in the screenshot. We have five pairs to show how the outputs from the formulas vary depending on whether they include the “holidays” parameter or not. In a couple of formulas, the upper one doesn’t have the “holidays” argument in a couple of formulas. On the other hand, the lower one contains the “holidays” parameter. So, you can see the slight differences between the number of working days returned by the two types of formulas in each pair. As the lower one excludes the number of holidays from the working days, we have the small number of days in the lower row in a pair. 

Look at the fifth pair (Project E) in the table. The function in the top cell (H11) returns 29 by counting the number of working days between the starting and ending dates. The lower formula (in cell H12) excludes three holidays (Thanksgiving Day, Day after Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day) from the working days; thus, its outcome is 26, smaller than the number of days returned by the top one (29) by three days. Note: Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are on Sundays; so they are not counted as working days in the first place.

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What is the difference between the NETWORKDAYS and WORKDAYS functions in Google Sheets?

As described above, the NETWORKDAYS function returns the number of working days based on the given starting and ending dates, excluding special holidays entered, if any. So, the NETWORKDAYS function is helpful when you have particular starting and ending dates for a project. On the other hand, the WORKDAY function gives you the end date after the specified number of days from a particular starting date, excluding the number of holidays input, if any. The WORKDAY formula is useful when you have a certain starting date and a specific number of project days.