Excel will not read date -

i've tried million things excel read date being pulled formula:

=(left(vlookup(c7,'input engagement status'!c:m,9,false),11)) 

i use left because cell i'm referencing storing 2 dates simultaneously. output "mmm dd yyyy".

i have tried text columns, formula being pulled apart rather date reads for.

i have tried custom formatting create new date format "mmm dd yyyy". have changed general, numbers, text, , out of solutions @ point. appreciated.

a way illustrate differences date on worksheet. excel treats dates 1 every day past dec 31, 1899. today happens 42,192 (or 42192 excel sees it).

if put =today() in cell (e.g. a1) , use =right(a1, 2), a1 cell shows 07/07/2015 underlying value 42192 right(a1, 2) going return 92. format cell displays tuesday, july 7, 2015 , right(a1, 2) still going return 92.

if have 2 dates in same cell separted space or other delimiter text string should able pull first 11 characters string value , convert date datevalue function.

using data in single cell (a1):

jul 07 2015  jul 15 2015 

use substitute function insert comma datevalue resolve date correctly.

=datevalue(substitute(left(a1, 11), " 20", ", 20")) =datevalue(substitute(right(a1, 11), " 20", ", 20")) 

format result date. above return 42,192 , 42,200 (the number of days since dec 31, 1899). format date 07/07/2015 , 07/15/2015.

you should able transcribe vlookup function simple example.