date/serial numbers-help please

Hello,

I have been trying to enter a date; however, excel keeps entering it as the serial number. I have been searching for quite some time on how to enter an invoice date - with no luck.

Does excel always recognize a date as a serial number.

I went under format, customize (I wanted to use the format: dd,mm,yyy). For example, I only want to enter 010301. Then I want excel to format it to: 01/03/2001. Do I have to enter the slashes?

ANY help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You.

Yes you need to enter the slashes

e.g. "1/3/1" = 01/03/2001

but if it is the current year just enter "1/3" = 01/03/2006