Skip to content
Google Sheets

NOW function in Google Sheets

Returns the current date and time as a date value.

=NOW()

NOW examples

Formulas you'll actually reuse.

  1. The current date and time — recalculates on every edit, so paste as values to freeze a timestamp:

    =NOW()

  2. Hours elapsed since a ticket was opened at the time in B2:

    =(NOW() - B2) * 24

NOW in Excel

Same name — your formula ports as-is.

Try NOW in the playground

Edit the example — nothing to install.

Preloaded with the NOW formula from Example 1 — change anything and watch it respond.

Loading the editor…

Related functions

More ways Google Sheets gets this done.