Date format in Grid

bouvt1

As the owner of multiple Workspaces and Grids in Canada, my date's Regional (Default format) is mm/dd/yy.

I have one guest user who works for the same company as I do, and is located in the same province (state) whose Regional (Default format) is dd/mm/yy.

She is an active project participant for whom this issue creates an inconsistent experience when we are sharing information with external customers.

We have tried configuring date settings for her computer but they are managed/controlled by our corporate IT department.

The grids do not have any automation or forms.

Struggling to understand next steps.

Tanya

Naeem Ejaz

This is a common (and frustrating) issue in Smartsheet and other global platforms where regional date formats depend on the user’s personal settings or browser locale, rather than the sheet or workspace itself. Here's a clear breakdown of why this happens and how to resolve it:

🧠 Why This Is Happening

Smartsheet determines how dates are displayed (not stored) based on:

1. The user’s language/region setting in their Smartsheet account.
2. The browser's language/region, if not explicitly set in Smartsheet.
3. The OS-level locale, in some cases (mostly affecting forms).

So even though you and your colleague are in the same province and company, if her Smartsheet account settings or browser locale are set to a UK format (dd/mm/yyyy), that's how dates are shown — even if the grid itself uses mm/dd/yyyy.

This causes confusion when:

• Dates are displayed differently across users.
• Exported or printed data looks inconsistent.
• You’re collaborating with clients who expect a consistent format.

✅ Recommended Solutions

✅ 1. Set a Standard Regional Format in Each User’s Smartsheet Profile

Ask your colleague to:

• Go to Account > Personal Settings > Language & Region.
• Set the region to English (Canada) or English (US) to get mm/dd/yyyy.

If your IT controls access to settings, she may need to request permission or an exception from them to change this herself.

✅ 2. Use Text/Helper Columns to Standardize Dates

If changing user settings is not an option, create a helper column that converts the date to a standardized text format, such as ISO (yyyy-mm-dd), which displays the same for all users.

Formula example:

CopyEdit=TEXT([Start Date]@row , "yyyy-mm-dd")

This column will:

• Display consistently regardless of user locale.
• Be easier to share with external users or clients.
• Be useful in reports or exports where format consistency matters.

✅ 3. Use Reports or Dashboards for External Views

Create a report or dashboard that shows the standardized date column and share that externally, rather than sharing the actual sheet. This gives you control over what and how data is shown.

✅ 4. Raise a Feature Request to Smartsheet

This issue affects many global teams. You can submit feedback to Smartsheet to request:

• Workspace- or sheet-level date format settings.
• A toggle to force all users to see dates in a set format.