How do I enter dates in ISO 8601 date format (YYYY-MM-DD) in Excel (and have Excel recognize that format as a date value)?

I tried to enter this date in ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD) in Excel 2010: 2012-04-08, but Excel automatically converts the date format to 4/8/2012.

I tried scrolling through the different types of Date formats that Excel allows me to choose from, but the 'YYYY-MM-DD' format isn't there:

Is there a way for Excel to recognize the ISO 8601 date format as a date value (and not automatically convert it to another format) when entered in a cell?

Answer

What you want is to use a custom format. Just type it in the box.

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