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TODAY
TODAY() is a volatile function that returns the current date without a time component, recalculating every time the spreadsheet opens or recalculates. Use it to calculate ages, deadlines, days elapsed, or to timestamp data dynamically without manual updates.
Excel
=TODAY()Google Sheets
=TODAY()✓
Verified example
Computed by a real spreadsheet engine on the sample data below.
| StartDate | DaysElapsed |
| 2024-01-01 | 511 |
| 2024-06-15 | 346 |
| 2025-01-01 | 146 |
=TODAY()→46169
Try it with your data
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Sample data — click any cell to edit
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How it works
- 1Enter =TODAY() with no arguments; it automatically returns the current date.
- 2Format the cell as a date to display it readably; internally it stores a serial number.
- 3Subtract a date from TODAY() to calculate elapsed days: =TODAY()-A2 gives days since the date in A2.
Need a version for your data?
Try: “Calculate how many days have passed since each project start date”