Bhubon Costa
While working with a dataset in Excel, you may want to make a time logbook and need to quickly enter the current date. Perhaps you want to automatically display the current date in a cell whenever formulas are recalculated. Inserting the current date in a cell can be done in a few different ways. The tutorial illustrates some best-fit ways to insert the current date in Excel as well as a few other purposes.
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3 Suitable Ways to Insert Current Date in Excel
In Excel, there are different techniques for entering the current date: two formulas and a shortcut. Whether you want a static or dynamic value will determine which one to use. In general, we use keyboard shortcuts for static values and formulas for dynamic values.
1. Use Keyboard Shortcut to Insert Current Date in Excel
Use one of the following keyboard shortcuts to insert the current date as an unchangeable timestamp that will not automatically update the next day.
1.1 Insert Current Date in Excel
Steps:
- Press Ctrl+; (semi-colon).
Note: When you open the workbook on a different day, this date will remain the same.
1.2 Insert Current Time in Excel
Steps:
- Press Ctrl+Shift+; (semi-colon).
Note: When you open the workbook at a different time, this time will remain the same.
1.3 Insert Current Date and Time in Excel
Steps:
- Firstly, press Ctrl+; (semi-colon).
- Then, Ctrl+Shift+; (semi-colon).
Note: When you open the workbook on a different day, this date and time will remain the same.
Read more: How to Get the Current Date in VBA
2. Apply TODAY Function to Insert Current Date in Excel
In financial modeling, the current date is highly useful for discounting cash flows and determining the net present value (NPV) of an investment. The TODAY function can also be used to build a dynamic model that calculates the number of days that have passed since a given date. This is especially important for a financial analyst who uses Excel to do their business.
The TODAY function in Excel returns the current date, as its name suggests.
The TODAY function has the simplest syntax conceivable, with no arguments at all. Simply enter the following formula in a cell whenever you need to insert current date in Excel:
=TODAY()
Using this function, we can easily find out the current date, day of the month, or the current month of the year. Let’s see how this function works.
Step 1:
- To insert the current date in excel, type the following formula.
=TODAY()- Then, press Enter.
Step 2:
- Now we will apply the TODAY Function to find the current day of the month. To find the current day of the month, type the following formula,
=DAY(TODAY())- Then, press Enter.
Step 3:
- Apply TODAY Function to Find the Current Month of the Year. To find the current day of the month, type the following formula,
=MONTH(TODAY())- Then, press Enter.
Note: The TODAY function is a kind of volatile function. There are no arguments for the TODAY function. When you open the workbook on a different day, this date will be immediately updated.
Read more: How to Use the Day Function in Excel VBA
Similar Readings
- Use Excel Date Shortcut
- How to Convert Date from String Using VBA (7 Ways)
- Calculate Due Date with Formula in Excel (7 Ways)
- How to Sort Dates in Excel by Year (4 Easy Ways)
3. Use NOW Function to Insert Current Date in Excel
The NOW function can be beneficial in financial analysis when creating various KPI reports. When you need to display the current date and time on a worksheet or calculate a number based on the current date and time that is updated each time you access the worksheet, the NOW function comes in handy.
Simply enter the following formula in a cell whenever you need to insert current date and time in Excel.
=NOW()
Steps:
- To insert the current date and time, type the following formula,
=NOW()- Then, press Enter.
Note: The NOW function does not take any arguments. When the sheet is recalculated, this time will automatically update. When you make a modification to a cell or open the workbook, this happens. To recalculate the workbook manually, press F9.
Read more: Now and Format Functions in Excel VBA
✍ Things to Remember
✎ You may need to alter the parameters that determine when the workbook or worksheet recalculates if the TODAY function does not update the date when you want it to. Click Options on the File tab, then make sure that Automatic is selected in the Formulas category under Calculation options.
✎ A decimal number is used to represent time values, which are a part of a date value (for example, 12:00 PM is represented as 0.5 because it is half of a day).
✎ #VALUE! The error occurs when the specified serial number is not a valid Excel time.
Conclusion
To conclude, I hope this article has given you some useful information about how to insert current date in Excel both in static and dynamic ways. All of these procedures should be learned and applied to your dataset. Take a look at the practice workbook and put these skills to the test. We’re motivated to keep making tutorials like this because of your valuable support.
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