Setting the date format in Microsoft Money 2005

This week, someone emailed me with a question about how to set the date format in Microsoft Money 2005.

The user was moving from an old Windows 7 machine to a shiny new Windows 10 device and when they opened their Microsoft Money 2005 file, it was showing dates differently:

Windows 7

Format: 31/01/2020

Windows 10

Format: 31/01/20

The user wanted to display all dates in the format: day/month/year showing a four-digit year, e.g. for 31 January 2020 it should display 31/01/2020.

Solution

The solution is quite simple but you need to know where to look. The settings are not within Microsoft Money itself.

Microsoft Money 2005 takes its date format from the Windows defaults for short date within the Windows region settings.

Because different countries use different date and time conventions, the first place to look is your Windows region settings within Control Panel (not the new Windows 10 Settings).

In this example, we are assuming a UK-based user who wants to ensure the date format is 31/01/2020 (for 31 January 2020).

1. Open Control Panel.
2. If it is set to View by Category select Clock and Region, otherwise just select Region.
3. Make sure Format is set to English (United Kingdom).
4. Select your preferred short date format from the drop-down. In this example, we need to select dd/MM/yyyy.
5. Click OK.

When you next open Microsoft Money 2005, the date format should be in the format you are expecting.