How to create a list of dates
✓ Verified in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3Generate a run of consecutive dates automatically — a daily, weekly, or monthly series for schedules, calendars, and report rows — without typing each one.
The formula
| App | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Excel | =SEQUENCE(7,1,A1,1) | Spills 7 consecutive daily dates starting from the date in A1. Change 7 for the count, and the last 1 for the step (7 = weekly). Format the cells as dates. Excel 365 / LibreOffice 24.8+. |
| Google Sheets | =SEQUENCE(7,1,A1,1) | Identical. =ARRAYFORMULA(A1+SEQUENCE(7)-1) also works. |
| LibreOffice Calc | =A1+SEQUENCE(7)-1 | SEQUENCE needs 24.8+. Classic drag-down alternative that works everywhere: put =A1+1 below the start date and fill down. |
How it works
SEQUENCE(rows, cols, start, step) builds the whole series in one spilling formula: with a date as the start and a step of 1, SEQUENCE(3,1,DATE(2026,1,1),1) produces 2026-01-01, 2026-01-02 and 2026-01-03. Because dates are just serial numbers, arithmetic steps work naturally — use step 7 for a weekly list, or A1+SEQUENCE(n)-1 to key off a cell. Format the output cells as dates or they'll show as serial numbers. SEQUENCE (and dynamic-array spilling) needs Excel 365, any Google Sheets, or LibreOffice 24.8+; on older versions the timeless approach is to type the start date, put =above+1 beneath it, and fill down. Month- or year-steps aren't evenly spaced in days, so use EDATE(A1,SEQUENCE(12)-1) for the first of each month, or EDATE with a step for every-N-months. To list only workdays, WORKDAY.INTL fed a SEQUENCE gives business-day series.
Verified, not just documented
We ran =TEXT(SEQUENCE(3,1,DATE(2026,1,1),1),"YYYY-MM-DD") in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 (headless, with forced recalculation) and it returned 2026-01-01, 2026-01-02, 2026-01-03 — exactly the expected result. Every formula here is confirmed by actually executing it.
Functions used
SEQUENCE — see full Excel, Google Sheets & LibreOffice compatibility for each.