How to Get the Current Date and Time in Excel

Use =TODAY() when you want Excel to display the current date and update it when the workbook recalculates. Use =NOW() when you need both the current date and time. For a date that must remain fixed, use a keyboard shortcut instead of a formula.

TODAY, NOW, and fixed dates

TODAY takes no arguments: enter =TODAY() and press Enter. If the result appears as a number, apply a Date number format to the cell.

Useful TODAY formulas

The following examples update as the date changes:

• =TODAY()+10 returns the date ten days from today.
• =TODAY()-7 returns the date seven days ago.
• =DAY(TODAY()) returns today's day number.
• =MONTH(TODAY()) returns the current month number.
• =YEAR(TODAY()) returns the current year.

Extract the day, month, or year

DAY, MONTH, and YEAR return individual parts of a date. These functions return numbers, not formatted date strings.

For a worksheet date stored in another cell, reference that cell instead—for example, =YEAR(B2). See how to separate day, month, and year in Excel.

Add days to the current date

Excel stores dates as serial numbers, so adding 10 adds ten calendar days:

=YEAR(TODAY())-2000 calculates the difference between the current year number and 2000. It does not calculate a person's exact age because it ignores the month and day.

If TODAY shows the wrong date

• Check the computer's date, time, and time zone; Excel relies on the system clock.
• Ensure workbook calculation is set to Automatic under File > Options > Formulas.
• Press F9 to recalculate if calculation is manual.
• Check the cell's number format. A valid date may display as a serial number or in an unexpected regional order.

For date values imported as text, use a conversion approach such as the DATEVALUE function before performing date arithmetic.