Excel NOW Function: Get the Current Date and Time

The NOW function returns the current date and time. Type =NOW() in any cell and press Enter. It has no arguments ⏰

NOW is volatile: it updates every time the worksheet recalculates, so it always shows the date and time of the last calculation. Need a timestamp that never changes? Press Ctrl+; (date), then Space, then Ctrl+Shift+; (time).

Below, you’ll learn how NOW works, how it differs from TODAY, how to format the result, how to get only the time and how to use NOW in a SUMIF formula. Download our free sample workbook here to follow along.

How to use the NOW function

The syntax is as simple as it gets: NOW()

1. Select a cell.
2. Type the NOW function:

=NOW()

That’s right, NOW takes no arguments. You still need the empty parentheses 🩺

3. Press Enter to get the current date and time.

NOW takes the date and time from your computer’s clock. If the cell was formatted as General, Excel formats the result as a date and time in the format of your regional settings 🌐

Why does NOW keep changing?

NOW is a volatile function. Excel recalculates it every time the worksheet recalculates: when you enter or change something in the workbook, when you open the workbook, or when you press F9.

It doesn’t tick like a clock while you look at it, though. The result only changes when Excel recalculates.

That’s perfect for a “last updated” cell. But it means you can’t use NOW to record when something happened, because the time moves on at the next recalculation. For that, use a static timestamp instead.

If NOW doesn’t update when you expect it to, check Formulas > Calculation Options. If it’s set to Manual, press F9 to recalculate. Here’s more on how to recalculate and refresh formulas.

NOW vs TODAY

• =NOW() returns the current date and time, like 3/25/2023 16:50.
• =TODAY() returns only the current date, like 3/25/2023.

Both are volatile and take no arguments. Use TODAY for things like due dates and ages, and NOW when the time of day matters.

Because Excel stores the date as a whole number and the time as a decimal, =NOW()-TODAY() gives you only the current time. For everything about TODAY, see my guide to today’s date in Excel.

How to format the date and time from NOW

You can change how the result looks without changing the value:

1. Select the cell with the NOW function.
2. Press Ctrl+1 (or right-click and choose Format Cells).
3. On the Number tab, choose Custom.
4. Type a format code, for example mmm d, yyyy h:mm AM/PM or m/d/yyyy hh:mm:ss to show seconds.
5. Click OK.

You can also format it with the TEXT function, for example =TEXT(NOW(),"h:mm AM/PM"). TEXT turns the result into text, so keep NOW in its own cell if you want to calculate with it.

How to insert a static date and time (timestamp)

A static timestamp is a value, not a formula, so it never changes:

• Current date: Ctrl+;
• Current time: Ctrl+Shift+;
• Date and time: Ctrl+;, then Space, then Ctrl+Shift+;

On a Mac, the date is also Ctrl+; and the time is Command+;.

Already have a NOW formula you want to freeze? Copy the cell and paste it back as Values (right-click, then Paste Options > Values).

How to get only the time (or date) from NOW

• =MOD(NOW(),1) returns only the time. Format the cell as a time.
• =INT(NOW()) returns only the date, the same as =TODAY().
• =HOUR(NOW()) returns the current hour as a number from 0 to 23. MINUTE(NOW()) and SECOND(NOW()) work the same way.

NOW + SUMIF example: Sales for last 4 hours

NOW gets really useful when you combine it with other functions 👀

For example, the image below has some sales data along with the date and time of each sale.

Using this data, can we add up the sales from the last 4 hours only? 4️⃣

Yes. To do that, we use NOW inside the criteria of the SUMIF function. Let me show you 👇

1. Write the NOW function to get the current date and time.

=NOW()

From this date and time, we subtract 4 hours to get the start of the 4-hour window.

Pro Tip!

NOW returns a number. The whole number part is the date and the decimal part is the time 🎯

For example, if you format the date and time 3/25/23 4:50 PM as a General number, Excel shows 45010.70139.

Here, 45010 is the date 25 March 2023 and the decimal part .70139 is the time 4:50 PM. One whole day is 1, so one hour is 1/24.

2. To subtract 4 hours, divide 4 by 24 (the number of hours in a day):

4/24 = 0.1667

3. Subtract that from NOW:

=NOW()-4/24

Typing 4/24 in the formula is exact and easy to read. (The screenshots use a rounded decimal instead, which gives almost the same result.)

Note how the time goes 4 hours back 💡

4. Now use it as the criteria of the SUMIF function:

=SUMIF(A2:A7,">"&NOW()-4/24,B2:B7)

What did we just do?

• The first argument of SUMIF is the range to check. That’s the date and time of each sale in A2:A7.
• The second argument is the criteria: greater than “now minus 4 hours”. The ">" is joined to the NOW calculation with &, so Excel checks if each time in A2:A7 falls within the last four hours 🔎
• The last argument is the range to add up: the sales in B2:B7.

5. Press Enter to get the result.

The answer is $9,500. And guess what? That’s right 🚀

Excel added up only the first four sales ($2,000, $2,300, $4,200 and $1,000). All of them fall within the 4 hours before the current date and time.

That’s it! Now what?

You now know how to use the NOW function in Excel, on its own and inside a SUMIF formula.

NOW really shines when you combine it with other functions, like SUMIF, IF and VLOOKUP 💪

Don’t know how to use them? Let me teach you that in my 30-minute free email course that’s designed to teach you these (and many more) Excel functions very quickly.

Other relevant resources

Just like the NOW function, Excel’s library of date and time functions is full of amazing functions.

Need only the date? Here’s my guide to today’s date in Excel with the TODAY function and shortcuts.

Hop on here to read about all the Date and Time functions of Excel.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between the NOW and the TODAY function in Excel?

The NOW function returns the current date and time (hours, minutes and seconds). The TODAY function only returns today’s date (and not the time). Both are volatile and update when the worksheet recalculates.

What is the NOW function in Excel?

NOW is one of Excel’s date and time functions. It returns the current date and time and doesn’t take any arguments. Select a cell, type =NOW() and press Enter.

How do I stop the NOW function from changing?

You can’t freeze the formula itself, because NOW is volatile. Instead, copy the cell and paste it as values, or insert a static timestamp with Ctrl+;, Space, Ctrl+Shift+;.

Why is my NOW function not updating?

NOW only updates when the worksheet recalculates, not continuously. If calculation is set to Manual (Formulas > Calculation Options), press F9 to recalculate.

How do I add hours to NOW in Excel?

Add the hours divided by 24. For example, =NOW()+3/24 returns the date and time 3 hours from now, and =NOW()+7 returns the date and time 7 days from now.

How do I show only the time from NOW?

Use =MOD(NOW(),1) and format the cell as a time, or format the NOW cell itself with a time-only format like h:mm AM/PM.