Today Function: A Brief
The TODAY function in Excel returns the current date and updates automatically whenever the worksheet is opened or changed. This function does not require any arguments and you can apply a date format to display the result correctly. You may need to use the NOW function if you need both the current date and current time.
| Objective | Value Returned by function |
|---|---|
| Aim to get the current date | Today Function will return a valid Excel date in serial numbers. |
Today Function: A Syntax
=TODAY()
The TODAY function returns the current date and updates automatically whenever the worksheet is refreshed. The result is a standard Excel date and to display it correctly, apply a date format. You can also customize the format as needed as shown in the below image.
Using Today Function with Practical Examples:
| Formula | Result | Comments |
|---|---|---|
=TEXT(TODAY(),"DDDD") |
Thursday | Current day of the week |
=TEXT(TODAY(),"MMMM") |
March | Current month name |
="Q"&ROUNDUP(MONTH(TODAY())/3,0)&"-"&YEAR(TODAY()) |
Q1-2025 | Current quarter |
=TODAY()+5*365 |
12 March 2030 | 5 years from today |
=IF(MOD(YEAR(TODAY()),4)=0,"Yes","No") |
No | Check if current year is a leap year |
=EOMONTH(TODAY(),0) |
31 March 2025 | Last day of the current month |
=EOMONTH(TODAY(),0)+1 |
01 April 2025 | First day of next month |
=EOMONTH(TODAY(),1) |
30 April 2025 | Last day of next month |
=[DATE](https://excel24x7.com/excel-functions/date-function/)(YEAR(TODAY())+1,1,1) |
01 January 2026 | First day of next year |
=[DATE](https://excel24x7.com/excel-functions/date-function/)(YEAR(TODAY()),12,31) |
31 December 2025 | Last day of the current year |
Practical today function formula with output results as examples.
Find the Next Friday from Today:
If you want to schedule a meeting every Friday, and you need to find the next Friday from today. You can use the below formula.
=TODAY()+MOD(6-WEEKDAY(TODAY()),7)
Formula to find the next Friday and tuesday from today using today function
| Number Value | Day Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sunday |
| 2 | Monday |
| 3 | Tuesday |
| 4 | Wednesday |
| 5 | Thursday |
| 6 | Friday |
| 7 | Saturday |
=TODAY()+MOD(3-WEEKDAY(TODAY()),7), you can change the number to check for the different days in the coming week.
Calculate AGE using Today function:
You can use the today function along with the year function to calculate the AGE of the person. to do this, you must need to enter the proper date values.
The formula to do this is,
=YEAR(TODAY())-YEAR(C4)
or
=DATEDIF(C4,TODAY(),"Y")
or
=IF(ISNUMBER(C4), DATEDIF(C4,TODAY(),"Y"), "Invalid Date")
Display Time along with Today Function:
you can use the time function along with the Today function to print current date with the time.
=TEXT(NOW(), "DD-MMM-YYYY HH:MM AM/PM")
The output of the above formula is ,
Formula to print current date with time
Other formulas with time function to print today with time output with multiple formats,
| Formula | Result |
|---|---|
=TEXT(TODAY(), "DD-MMM-YYYY") |
13-Mar-2025 |
=TEXT(TODAY(), "DDDD, DD-MMM-YYYY") |
Thursday, 13-Mar-2025 |
=TEXT(TODAY(), "MMMM YYYY") |
March 2025 |
=TEXT(TODAY(), "YYYY-MM-DD") |
2025-03-13 |
=TEXT(NOW(), "DD-MMM-YYYY HH:MM AM/PM") |
13-Mar-2025 04:13 PM |
=TEXT(TODAY()+1, "DD-MMM-YYYY") |
14-Mar-2025 |
=TEXT(TODAY()-1, "DD-MMM-YYYY") |
12-Mar-2025 |
That’s it.
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