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The earliest date in Google Sheets based on specific criteria refers to the earliest date that meets certain conditions or requirements set by the user. This could be a date that falls within a certain range, is associated with a particular value or label, or is the first occurrence of a certain event. By using functions such as MIN and FILTER, users can easily identify the earliest date in their spreadsheet that meets their specific criteria. This information can be useful for tracking deadlines, analyzing data trends, or managing schedules.
You can use the following syntax in Google Sheets to find the earliest date in a particular column based on specific criteria:
=MINIFS(C2:C13, A2:A13, F1)
This particular formula finds the earliest date in the range C2:C13 where the value in the range A2:A13 is equal to the value in cell F1.
The following example shows how to use this formula in practice.
Example: Find Earliest Date Based on Criteria in Google Sheets
Suppose we have the following dataset in Google Sheets that shows when various basketball players joined their particular team:
Suppose we would like to find the earliest date among players who are on the Rockets team.
We can specify the Rockets team name in cell F1 and then type the following formula into cell F2 to find the earliest date:
=MINIFS(C2:C13, A2:A13, F1)
The following screenshot shows how to use this formula in practice:
By default, Google Sheets displays the date in a numeric format.
To convert this to a recognizable date format, select cell F2 and then click the Format tab, then click Number, then click Date:
The date will now be formatted as 4/13/2009:
Note: You can find the complete documentation for the MINIFS function in Google Sheets .
Additional Resources
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common tasks in Google Sheets: