How to enter Today’s Date or Static Date and Time in Excel

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To enter today’s date in Excel, use the TODAY function. To enter the current date and time, use the NOW function. To enter the current date and time as a static value, use keyboard shortcuts.

Today and Now

1. To enter today’s date in Excel, use the TODAY function.

Note: the TODAY function takes no arguments. This date will update automatically when you open the workbook on another date.

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2. To enter the current date and time, use the NOW function.

Note: the NOW function takes no arguments. This time will update automatically whenever the sheet is recalculated. This happens when you make a change to any cell or when you open the workbook. Press F9 to manually recalculate the workbook.

3. To enter the current time only, use NOW()-TODAY() and apply a time format.

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Note: dates are stored as numbers in Excel and count the number of days since January 0, 1900. Times are handled internally as numbers between 0 and 1. Visit our page about date and time formats for more information.

Static Date and Time

1. To enter the current date as a static value, press CTRL + ; (semicolon).

Note: this date will not change when you open the workbook on another date.

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2. To enter the current time as a static value, press CTRL + SHIFT + ; (semicolon).

Note: this time will not change when you make a change to a cell or when you open the workbook.

3. To enter the current date and time as a static value, simply press CTRL + ; (semicolon), enter a space and press CTRL + SHIFT + ; (semicolon).

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