Google Sheets TODAY / NOW Functions — Syntax, Examples & Tips

What They Do

TODAY returns the current date as a date value without a time component. NOW returns the current date and time, updating every time the spreadsheet recalculates. Both functions are volatile — they refresh automatically when you edit any cell, open the sheet, or trigger a recalculation. They are the foundation for building deadlines, countdowns, aging reports, and time-stamped logs.

Syntax

=TODAY()
=NOW()

Neither function takes any arguments. The parentheses are required but stay empty.

Basic Examples

Display today's date

=TODAY()

Result: 4/5/2026 (format depends on your locale settings)

Calculate how many days until a deadline

Result in B2: 40

Because dates are stored as numbers in Google Sheets, simple subtraction gives you the difference in days.

Show the current timestamp

=NOW()

Result: 4/5/2026 14:32:08

This updates every time the sheet recalculates, so it always reflects the latest time.

Advanced Examples

Build an aging report for invoices

Suppose you have invoice dates in column A and want to categorize them by age:

Result in B2: 31-60

This labels each invoice as 0-30 days, 31-60 days, or 60+ days old. Because TODAY recalculates automatically, the buckets stay current without manual updates.

Extract just the current time

If you only need the time portion without the date:

=NOW() - TODAY()

Format the result cell as Time (Format > Number > Time) to display something like 2:32:08 PM. This works because subtracting the date leaves only the fractional time component.

Create a countdown with hours and minutes

=TEXT(A2 - NOW(), "d \d\a\y\s, h \h\o\u\r\s")

For a deadline in A2 set to 4/10/2026 09:00, this might display 4 days, 18 hours. The TEXT function formats the raw difference into a readable string.

Common Mistakes

• Expecting a static value. Both TODAY and NOW recalculate every time the sheet updates. If you need a permanent timestamp that does not change, press Ctrl+; (date) or Ctrl+Shift+; (time) to insert a static value, or paste the formula result as a value.
• Comparing NOW with a date-only cell. =IF(A1 = NOW(), ...) will almost never be true because NOW includes hours, minutes, and seconds. Compare against TODAY instead, or use =IF(INT(NOW()) = A1, ...) to strip the time component.
• Forgetting time zone settings. TODAY and NOW use the spreadsheet's time zone, not your local device time. Check this under File > Settings > Time zone. If your formulas seem off by a few hours, the spreadsheet time zone is likely different from yours.

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