How to Create a Day Countdown in Excel (2 Examples)

In this article, we’ll discuss how to use the built–in functions in Excel to create a day countdown of a future event. This day countdown is commonly used to check and calculate the number of days left to start or end a future planned event, such as a birthday, tour, Independence Day, any sports event, and more.

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How to Create a Day Countdown in Excel: 2 Examples

1. Use of the TODAY Function to Create a Day Countdown in Excel

Using the TODAY function, we can count down the number of days left to start an event easily. The TODAY function returns the current date displayed in the worksheet and gets updated every time we open the worksheet. This belongs to the dynamic date type that keeps updating while performing calculations. Here is a common template to use.

In this example, we’re going to make a day count down for the Summer Olympics 2024 starting on 26th July. Let’s follow the simple steps below to accomplish this.

Steps:

In cell C3, let’s put the starting date of the Summer Olympics 2024.

After that, in cell B4, put the following formula.

=C3-TODAY()

Now, press Enter.

The output is in Date format as we subtracted two dates from each other.

From the Home tab, go to the Number Format dropdown and choose the General format.

Finally, the Date format is changed to the General format, and the number of days left to start the Summer Olympics in days.

Moreover, we changed the starting date to the Long Date format to make it more reader-friendly.

2. Create a Day Countdown in Excel Using the NOW Function

The NOW function returns the current date and time in a calculation. We can also use this function along with the ROUNDUP function to display a day countdown of the Summer Olympics 2024.

In cell B4, input the following formula and press Enter.

=ROUNDUP(C3-NOW(),0)

Explanation:

The ROUNDUP function rounds up a fractional number to the next integer. It takes two arguments-=ROUNDUP(number, num_digits)
We put C3-NOW() as the number argument of the ROUNDUP function. We used 0 as num_digits as we don’t want any fraction number of days but rather a rounded-up number in the display.

If we normally used the function without the ROUNDUP function, the output would look like this.

After converting the format of the output cell to the General format of the output, it would return a fraction of the number of days left to start the event.

Notes

Let’s say we have passed the starting date of an event, the countdown will start displaying a negative day number. For example, we can see a countdown for Copa America 2021 that ended 266 days before the date of writing this article.

To avoid this and show 0 instead of the negative number of days, we need to use the MAX function.

=MAX(0,C3-TODAY())

Download Practice Workbook

Download this practice workbook to exercise while you are reading this article.

Day Countdown in Excel.xlsx

Conclusion

Now, we know how to create a day countdown in Excel using simple formulas. Hopefully, it’ll help you to make your own day count-down dashboard for an event to start. Any questions or suggestions don’t forget to put them in the comment box below.

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2 Comments

Brent Aug 3, 2022 at 7:52 AM

How can you change the fill/text color as you get closer to the date? Say, 30 days out turn to orange, 7 days out to red, day of/beyond black? Thank you!
- Reply
  Tanjim Reza Aug 30, 2022 at 11:14 AM
  
  Hi, BRENT!
  You have asked a fantastic question.
  You can change the fill/text color automatically by using conditional formatting. You can apply multiple rules to a cell using this. To learn about conditional formatting in this regard, you can go to the following link.
  https://www.exceldemy.com/excel-conditional-formatting-greater-than-another-cell/
  
  Regards,
  Tanjim Reza