Date.FromText Function in Power Query M (5 Easy Examples)

If you have dates stored as text and you want Power Query to treat them as real dates, Date.FromText is the function that does the conversion.

It reads a text value like "2024-08-19" and returns a proper date you can sort, filter, and do date math with.

Table of Contents

Syntax of Date.FromText Function

Date.FromText(text as nullable text, optional options as any) as nullable date

where

text (required, nullable text). The text value to convert into a date, such as "2024-08-19".
options (optional, any). Either a culture string like "en-US", or a record with Format and Culture fields that tells Power Query exactly how to read the text. Omit it and Power Query best-effort parses using the current culture.

Returns: a date value built from the text. If text is null, it returns null. Text it cannot parse throws an error.

So you hand it a date written as text and it gives you back a real date. The options record is there for when the format is ambiguous.

Example 1: Convert an ISO date string to a date

Take a date written in the standard yyyy-MM-dd format and turn it into a real date.

let
    Source = Date.FromText("2024-08-19")
in
    Source

Result: 2024-08-19

The ISO layout is unambiguous, so no options record is needed. Power Query reads year, month, and day in order.

Example 2: Read a UK-format date with Format and Culture

A date like "19/08/2024" is day-first. Without help, an en-US reader would see month 19 and fail, or worse, misread a value like 03/04 as the wrong month.

Pass an options record to spell out the layout:

let
    Source = Date.FromText("19/08/2024",[Format="dd/MM/yyyy",Culture="en-GB"])
in
    Source

Result: 2024-08-19

Format="dd/MM/yyyy" tells Power Query the first number is the day, and Culture="en-GB" sets the regional rules. The text is now read as 19 August.

Example 3: Parse text that uses a month name

Some sources write the month out in full, like "03 March 2025". The MMMM token in the format string matches a full month name.

let
    Source = Date.FromText("03 March 2025",[Format="dd MMMM yyyy",Culture="en-US"])
in
    Source

Result: 2025-03-03

Format="dd MMMM yyyy" maps day, full month name, and year. Culture="en-US" tells it which language March belongs to.

Example 4: Convert a text date column into real dates

This is the everyday job. A table arrives with dates stuck as text, and you need a real date column to work with.

Say you have a Bookings table where ClassDate is text in dd/MM/yyyy form.

Here is the starting data:

Member	ClassDate
Priya Nair	14/05/2023
Tom Wexler	22/11/2023
Aoife Byrne	27/01/2024

Add a new column that runs Date.FromText on each ClassDate value:

let
    Source = Excel.CurrentWorkbook(){[Name="Bookings"]}[Content],
    AddDate = Table.AddColumn(Source,"ParsedDate",each Date.FromText([ClassDate],[Format="dd/MM/yyyy",Culture="en-GB"]),type date),
    Result = Table.SelectColumns(AddDate,{"Member","ParsedDate"})
in
    Result

The each keyword applies the conversion row by row, and type date tags the new column so Power Query treats it as dates.

The result keeps the member and the parsed date:

Member	ParsedDate
Priya Nair	2023-05-14
Tom Wexler	2023-11-22
Aoife Byrne	2024-01-27

Each text value is now a real date you can sort or filter on.

Example 5: A null input returns null

If a cell is empty, the text coming in is null. Date.FromText passes that straight through.

let
    Source = Date.FromText(null)
in
    Source

Result: null

A null in gives a null out, so blank cells do not break the query. Unparseable text is the case that errors, not a blank.

Things to keep in mind with Date.FromText

Ambiguous formats need an options record. A value like "03/04/2025" is read as March or April depending on culture. Pass [Format="dd/MM/yyyy",Culture="en-GB"] (or the layout you actually have) to remove the guesswork.
Unparseable text throws an error. Junk like "not a date" returns Expression.Error: We couldn't parse the input provided as a Date value. Wrap it in try Date.FromText([Col]) otherwise null to keep the query running.
Format tokens are case-sensitive. MM is month, mm is minutes, dd is day. A wrong token reads the wrong part of the string.

Common questions about Date.FromText

What is the difference between Date.FromText and Date.ToText?

They are opposites. Date.FromText turns text into a date, while Date.ToText turns a date back into formatted text for display.

Can I convert a whole column at once?

Not with a bare Date.FromText, which takes a single value. Wrap it in Table.AddColumn with each, as in Example 4, to run it down a column. Once the column is real dates, you can combine it with other columns or compare it to today’s date in Power Query.

List of All Power Query Functions

Related Power Query Functions / Articles: