library(dplyr) # Return columns by name select(data, year, month, day) # A tibble: #> year month day #> <int> <int> <int> #> 1 2013 1 1 #> 2 2013 1 1 #> 3 2013 1 1 #> 4 2013 1 1 #> 5 2013 1 1 #> 6 2013 1 1