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Julian date converter and today’s Julian date
Today’s Julian date is at the top of the tool, in every common format, worked out from your device’s date and time zone. On products and in plants, a Julian date is the year plus the day of the year: 26032 means 2026, day 32, which is February 1. Convert any calendar date to a Julian date, or a Julian date back to a calendar date.
Updated October 12, 2026
Convert a date
Astronomical Julian Day (a different number)
Astronomers count days continuously from noon UTC on January 1, 4713 BC. That count is also called a Julian date, but it is not the year-and-day code printed on products.
Need the whole year at a glance? Printable Julian calendar
Dates are computed in your browser from your device’s clock and time zone, so the day changes at your local midnight. Lot-code makers may use the plant’s local date instead. Need to read a whole lot code? Lot code decoder
What is a Julian date?
In manufacturing, food and packaging, a Julian date is the day of the year, counted from 001 on January 1 to 365 on December 31, usually with the year in front. Day 366 exists only in leap years. Plants print it in lot and batch codes because it is short, sorts in date order, and makes the gap between two dates simple to work out.
The name is loose. It has nothing to do with the Julian calendar of Julius Caesar, and it is not the astronomers’ Julian Day, which counts days since 4713 BC. Standards call the year-and-day form an ordinal date.
Julian date formats
| Format | February 1, 2026 | Where it shows up |
|---|---|---|
| YYDDD | 26032 | The most common form in lot and batch codes |
| YYYYDDD | 2026032 | Codes and systems that need the full year |
| DDD | 032 | Pack dates where the year is printed elsewhere or implied, such as USDA-graded egg cartons |
| YDDD | 6032 | Short codes; the year repeats every ten years |
| CYYDDD | 126032 | JD Edwards and other IBM i (AS/400) systems: C is 0 for the 1900s and 1 for the 2000s |
| YYYY-DDD | 2026-032 | ISO 8601 ordinal date, used in standards and data exchange |
How to convert a date to a Julian date
Add up the days in the months before your date: January has 31, February 28 (29 in a leap year), March 31, April 30, May 31, June 30, July 31, August 31, September 30, October 31 and November 30.
Add the day of the month. That is the day of the year.
Pad it to three digits (32 becomes 032) and put the year in front in the format you need: 26032 or 2026032.
The Julian calendar shows every day of the year at once, if you would rather look it up.
Julian dates for 2026
Every date of 2026 as a five-digit YYDDD Julian date. For the seven-digit YYYYDDD form, put 20 in front: 26285 becomes 2026285. Today’s date is worked out live at the top of the page.
| Day | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26001 | 26032 | 26060 | 26091 | 26121 | 26152 | 26182 | 26213 | 26244 | 26274 | 26305 | 26335 |
| 2 | 26002 | 26033 | 26061 | 26092 | 26122 | 26153 | 26183 | 26214 | 26245 | 26275 | 26306 | 26336 |
| 3 | 26003 | 26034 | 26062 | 26093 | 26123 | 26154 | 26184 | 26215 | 26246 | 26276 | 26307 | 26337 |
| 4 | 26004 | 26035 | 26063 | 26094 | 26124 | 26155 | 26185 | 26216 | 26247 | 26277 | 26308 | 26338 |
| 5 | 26005 | 26036 | 26064 | 26095 | 26125 | 26156 | 26186 | 26217 | 26248 | 26278 | 26309 | 26339 |
| 6 | 26006 | 26037 | 26065 | 26096 | 26126 | 26157 | 26187 | 26218 | 26249 | 26279 | 26310 | 26340 |
| 7 | 26007 | 26038 | 26066 | 26097 | 26127 | 26158 | 26188 | 26219 | 26250 | 26280 | 26311 | 26341 |
| 8 | 26008 | 26039 | 26067 | 26098 | 26128 | 26159 | 26189 | 26220 | 26251 | 26281 | 26312 | 26342 |
| 9 | 26009 | 26040 | 26068 | 26099 | 26129 | 26160 | 26190 | 26221 | 26252 | 26282 | 26313 | 26343 |
| 10 | 26010 | 26041 | 26069 | 26100 | 26130 | 26161 | 26191 | 26222 | 26253 | 26283 | 26314 | 26344 |
| 11 | 26011 | 26042 | 26070 | 26101 | 26131 | 26162 | 26192 | 26223 | 26254 | 26284 | 26315 | 26345 |
| 12 | 26012 | 26043 | 26071 | 26102 | 26132 | 26163 | 26193 | 26224 | 26255 | 26285 | 26316 | 26346 |
| 13 | 26013 | 26044 | 26072 | 26103 | 26133 | 26164 | 26194 | 26225 | 26256 | 26286 | 26317 | 26347 |
| 14 | 26014 | 26045 | 26073 | 26104 | 26134 | 26165 | 26195 | 26226 | 26257 | 26287 | 26318 | 26348 |
| 15 | 26015 | 26046 | 26074 | 26105 | 26135 | 26166 | 26196 | 26227 | 26258 | 26288 | 26319 | 26349 |
| 16 | 26016 | 26047 | 26075 | 26106 | 26136 | 26167 | 26197 | 26228 | 26259 | 26289 | 26320 | 26350 |
| 17 | 26017 | 26048 | 26076 | 26107 | 26137 | 26168 | 26198 | 26229 | 26260 | 26290 | 26321 | 26351 |
| 18 | 26018 | 26049 | 26077 | 26108 | 26138 | 26169 | 26199 | 26230 | 26261 | 26291 | 26322 | 26352 |
| 19 | 26019 | 26050 | 26078 | 26109 | 26139 | 26170 | 26200 | 26231 | 26262 | 26292 | 26323 | 26353 |
| 20 | 26020 | 26051 | 26079 | 26110 | 26140 | 26171 | 26201 | 26232 | 26263 | 26293 | 26324 | 26354 |
| 21 | 26021 | 26052 | 26080 | 26111 | 26141 | 26172 | 26202 | 26233 | 26264 | 26294 | 26325 | 26355 |
| 22 | 26022 | 26053 | 26081 | 26112 | 26142 | 26173 | 26203 | 26234 | 26265 | 26295 | 26326 | 26356 |
| 23 | 26023 | 26054 | 26082 | 26113 | 26143 | 26174 | 26204 | 26235 | 26266 | 26296 | 26327 | 26357 |
| 24 | 26024 | 26055 | 26083 | 26114 | 26144 | 26175 | 26205 | 26236 | 26267 | 26297 | 26328 | 26358 |
| 25 | 26025 | 26056 | 26084 | 26115 | 26145 | 26176 | 26206 | 26237 | 26268 | 26298 | 26329 | 26359 |
| 26 | 26026 | 26057 | 26085 | 26116 | 26146 | 26177 | 26207 | 26238 | 26269 | 26299 | 26330 | 26360 |
| 27 | 26027 | 26058 | 26086 | 26117 | 26147 | 26178 | 26208 | 26239 | 26270 | 26300 | 26331 | 26361 |
| 28 | 26028 | 26059 | 26087 | 26118 | 26148 | 26179 | 26209 | 26240 | 26271 | 26301 | 26332 | 26362 |
| 29 | 26029 | 26088 | 26119 | 26149 | 26180 | 26210 | 26241 | 26272 | 26302 | 26333 | 26363 | |
| 30 | 26030 | 26089 | 26120 | 26150 | 26181 | 26211 | 26242 | 26273 | 26303 | 26334 | 26364 | |
| 31 | 26031 | 26090 | 26151 | 26212 | 26243 | 26304 | 26365 |
First and last Julian date of each month in 2026:
| Month | Days | YYDDD | YYYYDDD |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31 | 26001 to 26031 | 2026001 to 2026031 |
| February | 28 | 26032 to 26059 | 2026032 to 2026059 |
| March | 31 | 26060 to 26090 | 2026060 to 2026090 |
| April | 30 | 26091 to 26120 | 2026091 to 2026120 |
| May | 31 | 26121 to 26151 | 2026121 to 2026151 |
| June | 30 | 26152 to 26181 | 2026152 to 2026181 |
| July | 31 | 26182 to 26212 | 2026182 to 2026212 |
| August | 31 | 26213 to 26243 | 2026213 to 2026243 |
| September | 30 | 26244 to 26273 | 2026244 to 2026273 |
| October | 31 | 26274 to 26304 | 2026274 to 2026304 |
| November | 30 | 26305 to 26334 | 2026305 to 2026334 |
| December | 31 | 26335 to 26365 | 2026335 to 2026365 |
Leap years
A year is a leap year if it divides by 4, except century years, which must divide by 400. 2024 and 2028 are leap years; 2026, 2027 and 2100 are not. In a leap year every date from March 1 on is one day later in the count: March 1 is day 061 instead of 060, and December 31 is day 366.
Typing a Julian date
The converter reads 26285, 26-285, 26.285, 2026285 and 2026-285 as the same date. It refuses a day that does not exist, such as day 366 of a common year, instead of rolling it into the next year.
Julian date formulas for Excel and Google Sheets
With a date in cell A2, or a Julian number in A2 for the last three rows. The same formulas work in Excel and Google Sheets. The YYDDD formula gives text, so 2005 dates keep their leading zero; format the other results as a number or a date.
| Task | Formula |
|---|---|
| Date to YYDDD | =RIGHT(YEAR(A2),2)&RIGHT(1000+A2-DATE(YEAR(A2),1,0),3) |
| Date to YYYYDDD | =YEAR(A2)*1000+A2-DATE(YEAR(A2),1,0) |
| Date to CYYDDD (JD Edwards) | =(YEAR(A2)-1900)*1000+A2-DATE(YEAR(A2),1,0) |
| Date to day of the year | =A2-DATE(YEAR(A2),1,0) |
| YYDDD to date (2000s) | =DATE(2000+INT(A2/1000),1,MOD(A2,1000)) |
| YYYYDDD to date | =DATE(INT(A2/1000),1,MOD(A2,1000)) |
| CYYDDD to date | =DATE(1900+INT(A2/1000),1,MOD(A2,1000)) |
These work because DATE accepts a day number larger than the month: DATE(2026,1,285) is day 285 of 2026, and day 0 of January is the last day of the year before.
Why your date can differ from someone else’s
The tool uses your device’s clock and time zone, so the date changes at your midnight. A plant in another time zone may already be on the next day, and a code printed overnight carries the plant’s date, not yours. If a code looks a day off, check where and when it was printed.
Questions
What is today’s Julian date?
It is shown at the top of the tool, from your device’s date. The five-digit form is the last two digits of the year followed by the three-digit day of the year.
What is a 3-digit Julian date?
The day of the year on its own, from 001 to 365 (366 in a leap year). USDA-graded egg cartons, for example, carry the pack date as a three-digit day of the year.
What does a Julian date like 25032 mean?
The first two digits are the year, 2025, and the last three are the day of the year, 32, which is February 1.
How do I convert a Julian date in Excel?
For a five-digit YYDDD number in A2, use =DATE(2000+INT(A2/1000),1,MOD(A2,1000)). To go the other way, use =RIGHT(YEAR(A2),2)&RIGHT(1000+A2-DATE(YEAR(A2),1,0),3), which keeps the leading zero of years such as 2005. The formulas table above has the other formats.
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