Excel NOW Function

NOW takes no parameters but requires empty parentheses. The value returned by NOW will continually update each time the worksheet is updated, for example, each time a value is entered or changed. Use F9 to force the worksheet to recalculate and update the value.

The value returned by the NOW function is a standard Excel date, including a fractional value for time. To display the result as a date, apply a date number format. Optionally customize the number format to include the time. If you want the current date without a time value, use the TODAY function.

Examples

The examples below show how the NOW function can be used in various ways:

=NOW()  // current date and time
=NOW()-7  // last week same time
=NOW()+7  // next week same time
=NOW()+90  // 90 days from now
=MROUND(NOW()+90,"1:00")  // 90 days from now to nearest hour
=EDATE(NOW(),3)  // 3 months from now, time removed
=EDATE(NOW(),12)  // 12 months from now, time removed
=EOMONTH(NOW(),-1)+1  // first day of current month
=EDATE(NOW(),6)+MOD(NOW(),6)  // 6 months from now, time preserved

Static date and time

If you need a static date and time that won't change,  you can use the following shortcuts:

• Insert current date - Control + ;
• Insert current time - Control + Shift + :

To enter both values in a single cell, enter the date, a space, then the time.

Formatting results

The result of NOW is a serial number representing an Excel date and time. You can format the value returned by TODAY using any standard date format. You can use the TEXT function to build a text message that includes the current date:

="The date is "&TEXT(NOW(),"mmm d")&" and the time is "&
TEXT(NOW(),"h:mm AM/PM")

To return a text string like "The date is May 31 and the time is 6:10 PM".