How To Calculate Days From Today In Excel
The go-to Excel function for date math is TODAY(), which returns the current date and refreshes automatically every time the file opens. Combined with simple subtraction or the DATEDIF function, you can count days between today and any other date in seconds.
Everything below works in Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice Calc. The formulas are the same across all three.
Formula 1: Days Between Today And A Future Date
The simplest version. If cell A1 contains a future date, this formula returns how many calendar days away it is:
Heads-up: Excel sometimes formats the result as a date instead of a number. If you see "1/30/1900" instead of "30", change the cell format to Number or General.
Formula 2: Days Between A Past Date And Today
Flip the subtraction to count how many days ago something happened:
Formula 3: Business Days (Weekdays Only)
To count only Monday–Friday between today and a target date, use NETWORKDAYS:
To add an optional third argument for holidays (a range of dates to exclude):
Formula 4: Get A Date X Days From Today
If instead you want the date 30 days from today, use simple addition:
Or for business days from today:
Common Mistakes And Fixes
Result shows as a date, not a number
Excel inherits date formatting from the cells being subtracted. Select the result cell and change the format to General (Ctrl+Shift+~) or Number.
TODAY() doesn't update automatically
TODAY() refreshes when the file is opened, recalculated (F9), or when any cell in the sheet changes. If it's still stuck, check that Automatic Calculation is enabled under Formulas → Calculation Options.
NETWORKDAYS gives an unexpected number
NETWORKDAYS is inclusive of both the start date and end date. If today is a Monday and A1 is the following Monday, you'll get 6 business days, not 5. Subtract 1 if you want exclusive-of-today counting.
Quick Reference Table
Don't Want To Use Excel?
If you just need the answer once — not building a spreadsheet — our calculator pages do the same job in one click and don't require any formulas at all.