TODAY
Returns today's date: to count how many days are left until a deadline or have passed since an event.
TODAY()Return value
Today's date without the time. It updates every time the sheet recalculates.
Examples
Days left until the deadline
fx
A
B
C
D
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2
3
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Task
Deadline
Days left
Quarterly report
15.01.2027
Contract renewal
01.03.2027
Inventory count
30.06.2027
Annual audit
30.04.2027
Sheet1
Details
TODAY takes no arguments, but the parentheses after the name are required: =TODAY().
The date in the formula doesn't freeze. Excel recalculates it every time the file is opened, so tomorrow the same cell shows tomorrow's date.
For Excel a date is a number of days, so you can subtract from it: =B2-TODAY() shows how many days are left until the date in B2.
Common mistakes
- Forgotten parentheses: without them Excel doesn't recognize the function and returns #NAME?.
- TODAY was used where the date must not change, for example a sale date. A day later it changes. Type such dates by hand.
- After subtracting dates, the cell shows a date instead of a number of days. Change the cell format to Number or General.