TODAY Function in Excel: Current Date That Updates Every Day

📎 This article includes 1 downloadable practice file ↓

⏱ 1 min readUpdated 28 September 2026

Date & TimeLevel: BeginnerAvailable in: Excel 2007+

In this article
  1. Syntax
  2. Examples
  3. Example 1
  4. Example 2
  5. Example 3
  6. Related functions

TODAY returns today’s date and recalculates whenever the workbook changes or opens. NOW adds the time.

Syntax

=TODAY()

Examples

Example 1

=TODAY()-A2

Days since an invoice date (format the cell as Number).

Example 2

=IF(B2<TODAY(), "Overdue", "")

Flag overdue tasks.

Example 3

=DATEDIF(A2, TODAY(), "y")

Age in completed years.

💡 Need a date that does not change? Press Ctrl+; to type today’s date as a fixed value.

NOW · DATE · EDATE · NETWORKDAYS

📚 Part of the free Excel course: Beginner → Expert · Try it in the Formula Lab or ask the AI Helper.

📎 Practice files for this article

  • 📗
    Date scenarios workbookMonth maths, financial-year start, working days with holidays — with PASS/FAIL checks and the 2 most common date mistakes.
    ⬇ XLSX · 8 KB

Free to use for learning. Files with macros (.bas) are plain text — import them with Alt+F11 → File → Import File, and always test on a copy.

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