Date and time

NOW function playground

Returns the current date and time.

The playground runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.

How NOW works

NOW returns a serial number: the whole part is the date and the decimal part is the time as a fraction of the day (0.5 is noon).

Like TODAY, it updates whenever the sheet recalculates. Format the cell, or use TEXT, to show just the time.

=NOW()

Formula	What it does	Result
`=NOW()`	The current date and time.	depends on the current time
`=TEXT(NOW(),"h:mm AM/PM")`	Just the time, as text.	depends on the current time
`=NOW()-TODAY()`	The time of day as a fraction of 24 hours.	depends on the current time
`=ROUND((NOW()-TODAY())*24,1)`	Hours since midnight.	depends on the current time

Expecting a fixed time stampNOW changes on every recalculation. Press Ctrl+Shift+; for a fixed time.

Comparing with a dateNOW is later than TODAY on the same day, so =NOW()=TODAY() is FALSE.

The workbook has the same sample data and formulas, plus a practice sheet.