You're right about that, but maybe it should just treat '1/2' as '1/2' and only convert it if it makes sense for the current operation. If I type 1/2 and I want the date, then I want 1/2, not Feb 1, or Jan 2, or 01/02/2025, or 2025-02-01, unless again, I have explicitly specified that this cell is a date, and this is the format I want it in.

In Sweden we don't use that numbering scheme and instead use Day/Month Year (which makes more sense as it goes from smaller to larger).

I think it's just what you're used to. If counting from smallest to largest was inherently better, then a dozen would look like 21, not 12. Little vs Big Endian, I suppose.

The issue is when you do Month/Day/Year, then you lose consistency. Both Year/Month/Day or Day/Month/Year are more logical.

It would be interesting to know if your Excel correctly interprets 1/2 as 1st February based on your international settings.

Spoiler: it does.