What Is TODAY In Google Sheets?
The TODAY in Google Sheets provides the current date, i.e., the date on the day the formula is executed. It helps users to add or subtract the dates, calculate months and years before or after a certain date and calculate the age from the birth date. The Google Sheets TODAY function doesn’t need any arguments as values or cell reference, the formula itself gives the current date. And once entered, every time the formula is executed or the worksheet containing the formula is opened, the current date gets updated.
For example, we will find the current date using the TODAY() formula in the worksheet, as shown below.
Select cell A1, enter the formula =TODAY() and press “Enter”.
The output is 19 August 2024 in the preset date format, i.e., 8/19/2024, as shown above image.
Remember that anytime the worksheet is opened, say if it opened tomorrow, then we will get tomorrows date. Since we have used the formula, it will get refreshed or updated, accordingly.
Key Takeaways
- The TODAY in Google Sheets is a Date function, that returns the present date, and is independent of any arguments. The function itself returns results.
- We can use the following keyboard shortcuts, to enter today’s date in Google Sheets as a static, unchangeable value.
- To Insert Today’s Date– CTRL+;
- To Insert Current Time– CTRL+SHIFT+;
- Other than the TODAY() function, the NOW() function is also used to enter the current date and time.
- Using the EOMONTH we can get the last date of any month by providing the right argument value for the second argument. If we use the first argument as the TODAY() formulas results, then we can find any date either last date of a month, 6 months later date pr before date.
Syntax
The syntax of TODAY Formula in Google Sheets is,
The TODAY Formula in Google Sheets does not have any arguments. So, one can execute as follows:
- Enter the formula, open the brackets and press “Enter”, or
- Enter the formula with both the open and close brackets and press “Enter”.
How To Use TODAY Function In Google Sheets?
We can use the TODAY Function in Google Sheets in two ways, as follows:
- Access from the Google Sheets ribbon.
- Enter the formula in the worksheet manually.
Method #1 – Acces from the Google Sheets ribbon
Step 1: Choose an empty cell for the output à select the “Insert” tab – click the “Function” option right arrow – click the “Date” option right arrow – select the “TODAY” function, as shown below.
Step 2: The “TODAY” formula appears, as shown below. There is no requirement to enter the argument as cell reference or cell values, just press “Enter”.
Method #2 – Enter the formula in the worksheet manually
Step 1: Select an empty cell for the output.
Step 2: Type =TODAY( in the cell, as shown below. [Alternatively, type =T or =TO and double-click the TODAY from the Google Sheets suggestions.]
Step 3: There is no requirement to enter the argument as cell reference or cell values, just press “Enter”, to view the outcome.
Examples
We will consider specific TODAY In Google Sheets examples to find the date 6 months before the current date, last date of the month based on today and number of working days between two dates where one date is Today.
Example #1 – Increase dates in multiples of tens based on Today()
The dataset give below consists of Column A where we have entered the TODAY() formula and will provide the same as the cell reference to the result cells and in Column B the values are in multiples of 10. We will Increase dates in multiples of tens based on Today() using the simple arithmetic operations, i.e., addition.
The steps to increment 10th to 100th day to the current date are as follows:
Step 1: Select cell C2 and enter the formula =A2+B2, as shown below.
Step 2: Press “Enter”.
Step 3: Select the tick mark to autofill the results, as shown below.
Example #2 – Find the date 6 months back based in today
The data given below consists of values for which we will find the date 6 months back from the current date and as an add on we will also calculate the date 6 months later from the present date using the EOMONTH() function. Column C is for our reference.
[Note: The EOMONTH function returns the last date of the month before or after the given date. Here, we will gives the TODAY() function‘s results as the first argument value.]
The steps to find the date 6 months back and after based on Today are,
Step 1: Select cell D2, enter the formula =EOMONTH(A2,B2) and press “Enter”, as shown below.
Step 2: Drag the formula from cell D2 to D3 using the fill handle, to get the following result.
The results are shown above where in cell D2 we have got the date 6 months before the current date and D3 returned the date 6 months later than the present date.
Example #3 – Find the last date of the month based on today
We will find the last date of the month based on Today() using the EOMONTH(). The dataset consists of the todays date using the TODAY() formula, in column B we have entered 0, as the value as we want the current months last date, and column C is for our reference.
The steps to find the last date of the month based on Today() are,
Step 1: Select cell D2 and enter the formula =EOMONTH(A2,B2), as shown below.
Step 2: Press “Enter” to get the last date of the month based on Today(), as shown below.
Example #4 – Find the net number of working days between two dates based on Today
The dataset consists of date values in the correct format, where column A is the results of TODAY() function and column B consists of some random dates. We will Find the net number of working days between two dates based on Today() using the simple arithmetic operations, i.e., subtraction.
The steps to Find the net number of working days between two dates based on Today() are,
Step 1: Select cell C2 and enter the formula =B2-A2, as shown below.
[Note: To find the difference between the dates, ensure to always have the first date greater than the second date.]
Step 2: Press “Enter” and drag the formula from cell C2 to C7 using the fill handle, to get the calculated difference between the dates, as shown below.
Important Things To Note
- The TODAY Google Sheets function is volatile because every time we open a worksheet, it updates itself continuously. To avoid the automatic updating of the Date, we can copy the formula results and paste it as a value.
- We will get an incorrect date value or 1900’s year dates, when we find the difference between the dates if the first date value is less than the second date value. Therefore, ensure to always enter the greater value first and then subtract it from the lesser date value.
- If the values like total dates or difference returns some date value instead of a numeric whole number, then change the cell format as “Format – Number -Number”.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The TODAY in Google Sheets might not work due to the following reasons;
• The function is entered without brackets. Ensure always to typer the open brackets as TODAY(
• Cell values or cell references are provided when the function works without any argument.
• The cell format is not in par with the calculated result. Therefore, either change the cell format initially before executing the formula or after the results are calculated.
• The worksheet gets updated automatically to the current date every time we open, we might feel the values have changed.
We often forget in which category a function falls, here, the “TODAY” function. Then, we can insert the function as follows:
Choose an empty cell – select the “Insert” tab – click the “Function” option right arrow – click the “All” option right arrow – select the “TODAY” function, as shown below.
However, as always, entering the function manually is the best way to avoid confusion.
Alternatively, we can find the Functions icon to insert the TODAY in Google Sheets by following the path shown below.
Choose an empty cell – click the “More” option represented by the three vertical dots at the end of the toolbar, as shown below.
A list of icons appears when we click the “More” option. Here, click the “Functions” icon, as shown below.
Here, click the “Functions” option – click the “All” option right arrow – select the “TODAY” function, as shown below.
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