Let's say that you want to easily enter the current date and time while making a time log of activities. Or perhaps you want to display the current date and time automatically in a cell every time formulas are recalculated. There are several ways to insert the current date and time in a cell.

To change the date or time format, right-click on a cell, and select Number Format . Then, on the Number Format dialog box, under Category , click Date or Time and in the Type list, select a type, and click OK .

To insert the time, type the time, and then click Home > Number Format dropdown (in the Number tab) > Time .

To insert the date, type the date (like 2/2), and then click Home > Number Format dropdown (in the Number tab) > Short Date or Long Date .

On a worksheet, select the cell into which you want to insert the current date or time.

A static value in a worksheet is one that doesn’t change when the worksheet is recalculated or opened. When you press a key combination such as Ctrl+; to insert the current date in a cell, Excel “takes a snapshot” of the current date and then inserts the date in the cell. Because that cell’s value doesn’t change, it’s considered static.

To change the date or time format, right-click on a cell, and select Format Cells . Then, on the Format Cells dialog box, in the Number tab, under Category , click Date or Time and in the Type list, select a type, and click OK .

To insert the current date and time, press Ctrl+; (semi-colon), then press Space, and then press + ; (semi-colon).

On a worksheet, select the cell into which you want to insert the current date or time.

A static value in a worksheet is one that doesn’t change when the worksheet is recalculated or opened. When you press a key combination such as Ctrl+; to insert the current date in a cell, Excel “takes a snapshot” of the current date and then inserts the date in the cell. Because that cell’s value doesn’t change, it’s considered static.

To change the date or time format, right-click on a cell, and select Format Cells . Then, on the Format Cells dialog box, in the Number tab, under Category , click Date or Time and in the Type list, select a type, and click OK .

To insert the current date and time, press Ctrl+; (semi-colon), then press Space, and then press Ctrl+Shift+; (semi-colon).

On a worksheet, select the cell into which you want to insert the current date or time.

A static value in a worksheet is one that doesn’t change when the worksheet is recalculated or opened. When you press a key combination such as Ctrl+; to insert the current date in a cell, Excel “takes a snapshot” of the current date and then inserts the date in the cell. Because that cell’s value doesn’t change, it’s considered static.

Insert a date or time whose value is updated

A date or time that updates when the worksheet is recalculated or the workbook is opened is considered “dynamic” instead of static. In a worksheet, the most common way to return a dynamic date or time in a cell is by using a worksheet function.

To insert the current date or time so that it is updatable, use the TODAY and NOW functions, as shown in the following example. For more information about how to use these functions, see TODAY function and NOW function.

For example:

Formula Description (Result) =TODAY() Current date (varies) =NOW() Current date and time (varies)

Select the text in the table shown above, and then press Ctrl+C. In the blank worksheet, click once in cell A1, and then press Ctrl+V. If you are working in Excel for the web, repeat copying and pasting for each cell in the example. Important: For the example to work properly, you must paste it into cell A1 of the worksheet. To switch between viewing the results and viewing the formulas that return the results, press Ctrl+` (grave accent), or on the Formulas tab, in the Formula Auditing group, click the Show Formulas button.

After you copy the example to a blank worksheet, you can adapt it to suit your needs.