YAER in WPS on Windows: Introduction

YAER in WPS is a date function in WPS Spreadsheet that extracts the year from a date value; this guide covers 3 core tasks, with 3 available without membership and 0 membership-related items.

At a Glance

Metric	Value	Notes
Core tasks	3	Matches the number of rows in the How-to Index
Available without membership	3	Matches the number of Free rows in the index
Membership-related items	0	Matches the number of membership-related rows in the index

About This Feature

Overview

YAER is used in WPS Spreadsheet to work with date-related data by extracting the year from a date value. After you enter the function, you can follow the syntax prompt to complete the parameter and return the result in a cell. This function is useful for cleaning date fields, splitting year-month-day information, and building year-based summaries in spreadsheets.

Core tasks include:

Enter the YAER function and use the syntax prompt to start formula editing quickly.
Fill in the parameter and return a result for common date calculation scenarios.
Reuse cell references so the result updates when the source date changes.

System Requirements

Item	Requirement
Operating system	A Windows device that can run WPS Office normally
App version	The latest version of WPS Office is recommended
Network	No mandatory internet connection is required for local formula calculation; internet access is needed for download, installation, and account-related actions
Other	You need to be able to open spreadsheet files and edit cells and formulas

Download & Installation

Item	Details
Official download	WPS Office Free Download
Check after installation	Open WPS Spreadsheet and confirm that you can type the YAER function in the formula bar

Source: WPS download page

Compare with Alternatives

Dimension	WPS	Microsoft	Google	Notion	Adobe
Capability Summary	YAER extracts the year from a date value in a spreadsheet cell and can be entered directly with syntax guidance during formula editing.	Excel provides the YEAR function to return the year that corresponds to a date, using the syntax YEAR(serial_number).	Google Sheets provides YEAR(date) to return the year specified by a given date.	Notion formulas support `year(date)` or `date.year()` to extract the year from a date property.	Acrobat focuses on PDF form date fields and calculated values rather than a spreadsheet YEAR-style function.
WPS Advantages	Advantage: YAER works directly in the WPS Spreadsheet worksheet flow, with formula entry, parameter guidance, and recalculation in cells.	Compared with WPS: Excel supports the same year-extraction task, with documentation centered on the standard YEAR function name and date serial input.	Compared with WPS: Google Sheets supports the same result, but its help page emphasizes valid date references, date-returning functions, or numeric date values.	Compared with WPS: Notion can extract a year from a date, but the workflow is built for database properties instead of spreadsheet cells.	Compared with WPS: Acrobat is better suited to PDF form date fields and calculations, not spreadsheet formula workflows.
Official Source	—	Excel YEAR function	Google Sheets YEAR	Notion formula syntax	Acrobat PDF form fields

Overall Conclusion

YAER in WPS fits spreadsheet workflows where you need to extract the year from date values and keep results updated in cells. Excel and Google Sheets offer closely related date functions, while Notion handles similar logic in database formulas and Adobe Acrobat focuses on PDF form scenarios instead of spreadsheet formulas.

Use Cases

No.	Scenario	Suitable for	Main challenge	How YAER helps
1	Extracting birth years	HR and admin staff	Only the year is needed from a full date field	Enter YAER in a result cell to return the year
2	Cleaning date columns	Data processing users	Raw date columns are not easy to group or summarize	Split out a year column before filtering or summarizing
3	Building reports	Finance and operations teams	Records need to be reviewed by year	Generate a year result from a date column for filtering and statistics
4	Learning spreadsheet formulas	New spreadsheet users	Date functions are not yet familiar	Use the syntax prompt to complete the function step by step
5	Maintaining dynamic sheets	Everyday office users	Manual updates are inefficient when source dates change	Use formula references so results update automatically

Membership & Benefits

Free vs WPS Premium

Capability	Free users	WPS Premium
Writer, Spreadsheet, and Presentation basics	✅ Available	✅ Available
Basic spreadsheet functions such as YAER	✅ Available	✅ Available
Advanced PDF editing and more advanced tools	Some limits apply	✅ Available
Cloud storage and some extended benefits	Basic quota	Higher quota and more extended benefits

Source: WPS Office pricing page

Recommendations

Scenario	Recommended plan	Why
Everyday spreadsheet editing and basic date calculations	Free	YAER is a basic function scenario and standard spreadsheet work is usually enough
Users who also need more PDF tools, cloud storage, or extended tools	WPS Premium	Better for broader office needs beyond basic spreadsheet formulas

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