How to display the Current Date and Time in Excel and Google Sheets

If you need display the current date and time in Excel or Google Sheets spreadsheet, you can do it quickly. There are several methods to display the current date and time in a worksheet. In addition to using keyboard shortcuts, the simplest method is to use NOW and TODAY the functions. They are compatible with Google Sheets as well as with Microsoft Excel.

View the current date and time in Excel and Google Sheets

To display the current date and time in Excel and Google Sheets, follow these methods:

1. Use the keyboard shortcut
2. Use the NOW and TODAY functions

Here is everything you need to know about the process.

1]Use the keyboard shortcut

These two keyboard shortcuts will allow you to insert the current date and time into any cell in your spreadsheet. It doesn’t matter if you use Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel; you can use these keyboard shortcuts.

To add the date, select a cell and press these buttons – Ctrl +;

To add the current time, select a cell and press these buttons – Ctrl + Shift +;

To add the current date and time together in a cell, you must follow this-

• Press Ctrl +;
• Press the space bar
• Press Ctrl + Shift +;

2]Use the NOW and TODAY functions

These two functions do the same job and the users get the same result. To display only the date in a cell, you must use this function:

=TODAY()

On the other hand, if you want to display the current date and time, you have to enter this function:

=NOW()

This is how functions work. If you want to change the date and time formatting or the update schedule, you need to keep reading.

Date and time formatting in Excel

After getting the date or time in an Excel spreadsheet, right click on it and select Formal cells option. Make sure you are in the Date hour tongue. If so, you can see the options to change the formatting accordingly.

After making a change, don’t forget to click the OK button to save it.

Date and time formatting in Google Sheets

Like Microsoft Excel, you can also change the date and time formatting in Google Sheets. To do this, select the cell where the date / time is visible, go to Format> Numberand select the formatting according to your needs.

There is another option in Google Sheets that allows users to update the time or date differently. By default, Google Sheets updates the date or time when a user manually changes it. However, you can update automatically.

To do this, go to File> Spreadsheet Settingsand switch to the Calculation tongue. After that, select anything between these two options-

• At change and every minute
• On change and every hour

Finally, click on the Save settings to confirm the change.

That’s all! I hope these keyboard shortcuts and functions will help you.