How to insert dates in Excel - add today's date, auto fill a column with dates

This tutorial demonstrates various ways of entering dates in Excel. See how to insert today's date and current time as static time stamp or dynamic values, how to auto populate a column or row with weekdays, and how to auto fill random dates in Excel.

There are several ways to add dates in Excel depending on what exactly you want to do. For example, do you want to enter a today's date in some report or invoice? Or, perhaps you want to insert a date in Excel that will update automatically and always display the current date and time? Or, maybe you want to auto fill weekdays or input random dates in your worksheet?

In a moment, you will learn all these and a few more date entering techniques. If you are curious to know how Excel stores dates and times, please check out part 1 of this tutorial - Excel date format.

How to enter a date in Excel

You can type a date in an Excel cell in a variety of ways, for example 1/1/2015, or 1-Jan-2015, or 1-Jan, or January 1, 2015. When you type something like that in a cell, Microsoft Excel knows you are entering a date and automatically applies the date format to that cell. Quite often, Excel formats the newly inserted date according to your Windows default date settings, but sometimes it may leave it exactly as you typed.

The most obvious visual indication that Excel has recognized the date you've entered is its right-alignment in a cell as opposed to left-aligned text values.
Various ways to enter a date in Excel

If Excel has failed to recognize your input as a date and you see it left-justified in a cell, try inserting a date in some other format close to your default short or long date formats. These formats are marked with an asterisk (*) in the Format Cell dialog window and you can quickly access them on the Excel ribbon (Home tab > Number group):
The default short or long date formats in Excel

You will be able to easily change the date format later via the Format Cells dialog that opens on the Ctrl + 1 shortcut. For more details, please see How to change the date format in Excel.

Note. If a date you've entered displays as a number of pound signs (#####) in a cell, most likely the cell is not wide enough to fit the entire date. To fix this, double-click the right border of the column to auto fit the date, or drag the right border to set the desired column width. If this does not help, please check other Excel date format troubleshooting tips.

Tip. The fact that Excel automatically recognizes the entered value as a date may not always be what you actually want. We have some tips on how to avoid automatic data formatting.

Inserting today's date and current time in Excel

In Microsoft Excel, you can input the current date and time either as a static or dynamic value.

Shortcuts to enter today date in Excel (as a timestamp)

To begin with, let's define what timestamp is. Timestamping is entering a "static date" that won't change with the course of time or when the spreadsheet is recalculated.

So, if your goal is to enter the current date and/or time as a static value that won't automatically update the next day, you can use one of the following shortcuts:

  • Ctrl + ; shortcut inserts the today date in a cell.
  • Ctrl + Shift + ; shortcut inserts the current time.
  • To enter the current date and time, press Ctrl + ; then press the Space key, and then Ctrl + Shift + ;.

The shortcuts to insert today's date in Excel

Insert an automatically updatable today's date and current time

If you want to input today's date in Excel that will always remain up to date, use one of the following Excel date functions:

=TODAY() - inserts the today date in a cell.

=NOW() - inserts the today date and current time in a cell.
Inserting an automatically updatable today's date and current time

Unlike Excel date shortcuts, the TODAY and NOW functions will always return today's date and current time.

When using the Excel date functions, please keep in mind that:

  • The returned date and time are not refreshed continuously, they are updated only when the spreadsheet is re-opened or re-calculated, or when a macro containing the function is run.
  • The functions take the current date and time from your computer's system clock.

How to insert today date & current time as unchangeable time stamp

This section addresses a handful of comments that have been posted on this page with one and the same question: "What formula do I use to enter a timestamp in my Excel sheet without it changing every time the worksheet is reopened or recalculated?"

For starters, I'd like to note that I'm very hesitant to post this solution because it involves circular references, and they should be treated with great care. Anyway, here goes the formula…

Let's say you have a list of items in column A, and as soon as a certain item is shipped, you enter "Yes" in the Delivery column, which is column B. Once "Yes" is in there, you want to have the current date and time automatically inserted in the same row in column C as a static unchangeable time stamp.

To do this, we are going to use the following nested IF formula with circular references in the second IF function:

=IF(B2="yes", IF(C2="" ,NOW(), C2), "")

Where B is the Delivery column, and C2 is the cell where you input the formula and where the time stamp will eventually appear.
A circular formula to insert a time stamp in Excel

In the above formula, the first IF function checks cell B2 for the word "Yes" (or any other text you supply to the formula), and if the specified text is there, it runs the second IF function, otherwise returns an empty string. And the second IF is a circular formula that makes the NOW function return the current day and time if C2 doesn't have a value in it already, thus saving all existing time stamps.

If instead of checking for any specific word, you want the timestamp to appear when you put anything in the specified cell (that could be any number, text or date), then have the first IF function to check for a non-empty cell, like this:

=IF(B2<>"", IF(C2="" ,NOW(), C2), "")

Note. For this Excel circular formula to work, you should allow iterative calculations in your worksheet. Also, please keep in mind that there are many reasons not to use circular references in Excel, and if you decide to apply this solution in your worksheets, it's on your own risk.

How to auto populate dates in Excel

If you need to insert dates in a range of cells, you can let Excel "auto date" a column or row by using the AutoFill feature as demonstrated below or make a date sequence with formulas as explained in the above-linked tutorial.

Auto fill a date series that increases by one day

To automatically fill a column or row with an incrementing date series that increases by one day, you use Excel's AutoFill feature in the usual way:

  1. Enter your initial date in the first cell.
  2. Click on the cell with the first date to select it, and then drag the fill handle across or down the cells where you want Excel to add dates. (The fill handle is a small green square that appears at the bottom-right corner when you select a cell or a range of cells in Excel, as shown in the screenshot below.)

Auto filling a date series that increases by one day

Auto fill weekdays, months or years

There are two ways to automatically populate the selected range of cells with weekdays, months or years.

  • You can use the Excel AutoFill options as described above. When the range is populated with sequential dates, click the AutoFill Options icon and select the option you want:
    This is how you auto fill weekdays in Excel.
  • Another way is to enter your first date, right-click the fill handle and drag the fill handle through the cells you want to auto fill with dates, and then release it. When you do, Excel displays a context menu and you select the appropriate option from it.
    Another way to auto populate weekdays, months or years in Excel

Auto insert every 2nd, 3rd or Nth day

If you've tried a second solution described above, you probably noticed the Series option near the bottom, which provides a few more auto date features. One of them is inserting every 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. day, month or year in a worksheet. Let's try this now:

  1. Add the first date in some cell.
  2. Select that cell, right-click on the fill handle, drag it down or across several cells, and then release.
  3. In the context menu, click Series.
  4. In the Series dialog box, choose the appropriate Date unit and enter the Step value.
  5. Click OK.

Inserting every 2nd, 3rd or Nth day automatically

How to inset random dates in Excel

Regrettably, Microsoft Excel does not provide an option to enter random dates automatically. Luckily, AbleBits Random Generator for Excel does :)

You simply select a range of cells where you want to autofill dates in a random order, and switch to the Random Generator's pane where you specify:

  • Start and End date;
  • What days to add - weekdays, weekends or both;
  • To add only unique dates, check the Unique values

Then you click the Generate button, and have the selected range populated with random dates.
Inserting random dates in Excel

Apart from dates, the Random Generator add-in can auto fill your worksheets with numbers, Boolean vales and custom lists. If you think this is something that would be useful in your work, you can get it as part of our Ultimate Suite for Excel that includes 70+ time-saving tools and over 300 useful features.

If you are setting up a spreadsheet for other users, and want to make sure they enter dates right, it may be a good idea to insert a drop-down calendar in a worksheet. Your users will be able to fill in dates in a mouse click and you will be 100% confident that all dates are entered in an appropriate format.

If you are using a 32-bit version of Excel, you can use Microsoft's Date Picker control. For the detailed instructions, please see How to insert calendar in Excel (Date Picker control).

If you are using a 64-bit version of Excel 2016, Excel 2013, Microsoft's Date Picker control won't do. In this case, consider using one of the third-party calendars, for example our own one :)

Ablebits drop-down calendar for Excel

For more options, please see third-party drop-down calendars for Excel.

This is how you insert date in Excel. I am hopeful these date entering techniques, shortcuts, functions and Excel auto date features have proved useful to you. Anyway, thank you for reading!

Table of contents

437 comments

  1. Greetings,
    Hi would like to know from You
    I Set date in my excel book and i want a formula that work with date for example
    today 1-1-2017 and my figure is 100
    next day when i open my log date will be 2-1-2017 and figure turn to 200 automatically.
    Please help for this issue

  2. Can I insert the start date of year in cell .. A1 then show me the end date of year in cell A2
    Ex.
    A1=1/1/2017 A2=31/12/2017

  3. Hi All,

    I am currently working a excel formula to input a Revision_Date in column A then it will auto generate the number of days per month(only weekdays) on column B(January), column C(February) and so on depending on the current date. Example if today is April 17, 2017 and my input in Column A is Feb 13, 2017, it will compute number of days from Feb 13 to Feb 28 (which is 12 days) to be generated on Column C(Feb). Then on March which is complete since it covers the whole month until today on Column D(Mar). Then comes to April to compute the days from April 1 to April 16 on Column E(Apr). Can someone help me as I am really not familiar with excel. Hoping someone can share any formulas/techniques on how to do it. Thanks in advance.

    • Hi, Gerry,

      for us to be able to help you better, we need to see how the columns are named and arranged. Please, send us an example of your workbook with the source data and the result you want to get to support@ablebits.com.

  4. Hi All,

    I am currently working a excel formula to input a Revision_Date in column A then it will auto generate the number of days per month(only weekdays) on column B(January), column C(February) and so on. Can someone help me as I am really not familiar with excel. Hoping someone can share any formulas/techniques on how to do it. Thanks in advance.

  5. I write a date in a column and want to automatic update of date when I open the sheet in next days. how can I do this.

    • Hi, vinod,
      if you want the document to show you "today's date" (e.g. the date of your working with the file), try using the following formula:
      =TODAY()

  6. I generate reports on a daily basis, in cell AH60 I have =NOW() In Cell I56 i have =AH60 formatted to read yymmdd. What I want to be able to do is have it read yymmdd-### (ex.170331-001) with the number of my choosing to generate a report number. how can i add it. If tried to make it in the custom area but it keeps telling me its an invalid format...HELP!!! Please

    • Hi, Daniel,
      unfortunately, custom settings won't help here, try using something like the following in the cell:
      =TEXT(I56,"yymmdd")&"-"&ROW()
      You can change the last parameter to make it return whatever you wish. Hope it will be of use!

  7. Hi,
    i want to create a form for multiple employee for stock inventory. so i want if any employee enter his emp.code than his last balance auto show in excel form and if he give material request then automatically calculate from his last available balance.

    Can you help me please

  8. Using the + (plus) symbol does not work. (I used the + symbol on my numeric keypad.) Rather, using the = (equal) symbol works fine.

  9. How do you put the current (automatically updating) date in the footer of an excel document, not in numbers but in words (example March 24, 2017, instead of 3/24/2017)?

  10. Hi,
    I tried your following formula but it returned 0/1/1900 0:00

    =IF(B2="yes", IF(C2="" ,NOW(), C2), "")

    Appreciate if you can point out where the problem could be.

    Thanks and Regards

    • Hi, Sunny,

      to help you with your task, we need to know what you entered into the cells. You can try to explain here in more details, or send us a small sample workbook with your source data and the result you expect to get to support@ablebits.com. Don't forget to add the link to this article and your comment.

  11. the same with other comment "I need your help with regards to a simple query and tell me if it is possible.

    I have a data sheet what i need is that if I enter any value in A1 it automatically updates the current time in B2 which doesn't change later on and stays permanent so i should know at what time that entry in A1 was made. Your prompt response will be highly appreciated."

  12. I want to have each cell in a column have a drop down list box that only includes the current time up to 23:39????

  13. Hi to all. I need to put DATE, CURENT TIME in separate columns. Date and time had to be current(from computer clock) BUT unchangeable.

    how to do that?

    thanks

  14. HEY EVERYONE,

    I JUST WANT TO PUT A DATE IN ONE CELL AND WANT THE OTHER 6 OR 7 CELLS SHOW THE PREVIOUS DATES IS IT POSSIBLE IN EXCELL

  15. How to do that if I fill the cell by numbers or touch the cell, next cell should be filled by current date automatically..?

  16. Is there a way that I can see what date I inputted data into a particular cell in a worksheet without having a separate column for a date (e.g to see what when a payment was made)

  17. I need your help with regards to a simple query and tell me if it is possible.

    I have a data sheet what i need is that if I enter any value in A1 it automatically updates the current time in B2 which doesn't change later on and stays permanent so i should know at what time that entry in A1 was made. Your prompt response will be highly appreciated.

  18. could not calculate years entering date at two cells,as the answer is '#value' comment 'with wrong date type'. Kindly help.

  19. Is it possible to automatically add a new column with the current date in front of column "B" everyday at a specific time?

    For example, at 2am PST today column B would become column C and a NEW column would be column B that would auto-populate with today's date (Monday January 30, 2017.)

  20. Hi what is the formula for calculating the number of days from today's date and the date selected..thank you!

  21. Hello possible to enter a number auto copy paste into Excel from the site in
    Different time

  22. Hi I need a date selection list like calender to select the date where we can select any date & search the date. Is that feature is available.

  23. Hi, Svetlana.. Thank you so much. This really helps me a lot !

  24. What formula to use if you wants to know age calculation.
    E.g. born on 15th May 2010 and I want to auto calculate age to the date of 31st Dec 2020 ?
    Please help. Thank you

  25. how to in cress date automatically. example - A1 -TODAY , in B1- i need next day date

  26. This is exactly what I was looking for.

    Thank you!

  27. Can you explain the formula for getting the years between two days?
    Example: The number of years between today and Dec 1-1960
    Thanks for your help

  28. Hi,

    I've tried auto-filling a column of dates, but it increases the year for each cell (i.e. 5/12/16 -- 5/12/17 -- 5/12/18) instead by day. On the 'autofill options' drop down list there aren't the options for fill days, weekdays, months etc.

    Any advice? Thank you

  29. I have tax invoice template set in Excel, is there a way that the date or print out date is auto generated?

  30. Hi, I would like to know how to make a cell automatically show the next July 1st from another's cell's date shown. In other words, I have a due date that is always July 1st, so I want the formula to automatically display the next July 1st from the date I input in the preceding cell.

    So if A1 says (01/01/2016), I want A2 to automatically display (07/01/2016), but if B1 says (07/02/2016), then B2 should display (07/01/2017).

  31. My receiving group documents daily incoming materials on spreadsheet. They have to write the date for everything. Is there a formula that can auto populate the date once they enter data on that row. I tried =if(C1=",NOW()*C1). but this did not work?

  32. hi madam

    we unable to get in formulated cell , what can we do for getting date

  33. Hi Ms. Svetlana Cheusheva,

    I have a set of data on sheet 1 and I have a search box made for the data in sheet 1 I have created the below Macro but I can't get it to run on my workbook
    I would like the macro to start searching in sheet1 in row 4 for a chemical name in column C or product code in column D
    and if the term in Column C or D matches I want it to copy the whole row to sheet 2

    please advise
    Thanks

    'If value in search_box = Matches anything in column C or D, copy entire row to Sheet2

    Dim LSearchRow As Integer
    Dim LCopyToRow As Integer

    'Start search in sheet1 row 4
    LSearchRow = 4

    'Start copying data to row 2 in Sheet2 (row counter variable)
    LCopyToRow = 2

    'Select row in Sheet1 to copy
    Rows(CStr(LSearchRow) & ":" & CStr(LSearchRow)).Select
    Selection.Copy

    'Paste row into Sheet2 in next row
    Sheets("Sheet2").Select
    Rows(CStr(LCopyToRow) & ":" & CStr(LCopyToRow)).Select
    ActiveSheet.Paste

    'Move counter to next row
    LCopyToRow = LCopyToRow + 1

    'Go back to Sheet1 to continue searching
    Sheets("Sheet1").Select

    End If
    Next I

    please advise thanks

  34. Hey, Svetlana, lots of thanks for your effort.
    you have gave description how can we make timestamp for interring value or value change in a cell directly. But this formula don't work for whose cell, that's value is change through link.
    Suppose, I have to record timestamp in cell B1 where value of cell A1 is changed. Here, cell A1 is linked with (A1=C1+D1) cell C1 & D1. is this formula works for timestamp in this circumstances. I don't think so:(
    Is there any function available to record timestamp of a linked cell value change?
    Your urgent feedback will be highly appreciable. :)

  35. I have entered date unevenly
    A1=10/5/16
    A2=5/01/2016
    A3=30/6/2016
    How can get them ranging from jan to dec.??

  36. I want to input the date as 30.12.2016, but system does not recognize as date. Please support.

    • Hi Kalwar,

      For the system to be able to recognize a date, enter it in the default format (one that displays on the Home tab, in the Number Format box, for Short date), and then apply the following custom date format to the cell: dd.mm.yyyy

  37. Hi
    I want to insert only sundays of a year in excel how to do it ?
    Kindly help me

    • Hello Arham,

      You can use the "Series" auto-fill feature, as explained in "Auto insert every 2nd, 3rd or Nth day":

      - Enter the first Sunday date in the top cell.
      - Select that cell, right-click on the fill handle, drag it down to as many cells as you want, and then release.
      - In the context menu, click Series, and set the Step value to 7, telling Excel to auto fill every 7th day, i.e. only Sundays.

  38. Hi Ms. Svetlana Cheusheva,

    How can I make the date and time update automatically?
    For example:

    "The P/N ########## was right based on Agile on 10/20/2016 @ 8.00" is in 1 cell.

    The "10/20/2016 @ 8.00" need to be updated based on current date and time.

  39. Hello Ms. Cheusheva,

    Nice work.

  40. Hello Ms. Cheusheva,

    Thank you for this helpful post. I was wondering is there a way to have cells auto-populated with a calendar date series based on the day of the week?

    Ex: Friday: [07-Oct-16] [14-Oct-16] [21-Oct-16] [28-Oct-16] [04-Nov-16] etc

    Thank you so much!

    • Hello Tinker,

      You can use the "Series" auto-fill feature, as explained in "Auto insert every 2nd, 3rd or Nth day":
      - Enter the first Friday date in the top cell.
      - Select that cell, right-click on the fill handle, drag it down to as many cells as you want, and then release.
      - In the context menu, click Series, and set the Step value to 7, telling Excel to auto fill every 7th day. Done.

  41. Can I make an entry in one like cell A and excel automatically gives me the date and time I made that entry in cell B??

    • I know this post is old, but if anyone else is trying to solve this problem, here is the solution that worked for me:

      In the cell you want it to show

      =IF(ISBLANK(A1),"",NOW())

      With the formatting set for date and time under Format Cells.

      • works like a charm,
        thanks ronny

      • THANK YOU SO MUCH

  42. Good morning. I'm using the =IF(B2"",IF(C2="",NOW(), C2),"") formula and it's been working fine for a long while. Now all of a sudden it stopped working even though the formula is unchanged. I just get the circular reference warning. Any ideas on why and how to fix it?

  43. Dear expert,
    I have quarry that i selected two raw but + mark no showing right side of row
    so that i have not drag date, please suggestion for setting ??

  44. I have quarry Ex: If have entered a date in A3 as 01-01-16, and i would like to know the correct date of 6th Month in B3, like showing as 01-06-16. can u help me with the formula

    • Hello Munwar,

      You can use the following formula:
      =DATE(YEAR(A3), MONTH(A3), 6)

  45. am trying to create a phone log for a busy office . I need the date and time to auto fill when I take a call to record the callers information and nature of their call . I cannot seem to get it working to autofill. Any help is much appreciated.

  46. Hello,

    I am am working with months, days, and numbers (not dates). I am wondering if there is a formula to recognize all 'Mondays' per month? In this case I will not have to select each cell manaully for a new month.

  47. hi need help in excel formula:
    I want to auto date my column/cell.
    if B1 is 1, Autodate A1.
    I will appreciate your help. Thanks

  48. Please I am trying to use excel as a time sheet for HR. I want to be able to calculate the actual time worked for each day, while deducting break periods. Break time however is deducted based on number of hours worked, e.g for 5hours or less it is 20mins break, 6 to 8 hours it is 25 hours and so on. Please help.

    Thanks

  49. Hi,
    i like to know if i can get a list of day and date in separate columns if i enter a third column with the current month. And every month if I change the month and year, the day and date should also change.

  50. I have a problem please give me a guide how to solve.

    i want update every day automatically pending days anyone help me

    • =(TODAY()-B2)/365

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