With Google Sheets, you can easily insert a timestamp into your spreadsheet.
There are a few different methods for adding the current date as well as other timestamps to your sheet.
In this tutorial, I will show you how to insert the current date in Google Sheets and other useful timestamps that you should learn.
Table of Contents
How to Insert Current Date in Google Sheets
The quickest way to add the current date to your spreadsheet is with a keyboard shortcut.
All you have to do for this method is click on a cell and press Control + the Semicolon key (Ctrl + 😉 on your keyboard.
This will automatically insert the current date on whichever cell you have selected
How to Insert Current Time
There is also a keyboard shortcut for inserting the current time in your spreadsheet. This is very similar to the current date formula.
To insert current time:
Ctrl + Shift + ; (hold the Control key and Shift key and press the semicolon key
Timestamp Formulas
The keyboard shortcuts we covered previously will insert static dates and times into your spreadsheet.
But if you want a dynamic option that will automatically change as the date and time changes, you can use Google Sheets built-in NOW and TODAY functions.
TODAY Function
The TODAY function in Google Sheets will insert the current date.
The syntax of this formula is:
=TODAY()
To use this in your spreadsheet just select the cell you want to enter the formula and type “=TODAY()”
NOW Function
The NOW function in Google Sheets will insert the current date and time.
The syntax of this formula is:
=NOW()
To use this in your spreadsheet just select the cell you want to enter the formula and type “=NOW()”
Both the TODAY and NOW functions are volatile, meaning that they will recalculate whenever a cell is changed. If the date or time changes, the values that these are showing will change.
If you want them to remain static, you can always convert the formula to a value after you have entered it.
Closing Thoughts
Those are the easiest ways of adding the current date and time to your file.
You can either do it with the keyboard shortcuts or with the timestamp functions.
Both methods are great, but remember that the functions will recalculate and change as the date or time changes.
More Google Sheets Tutorials:
How to Add Bullet Points
How to Create Hyperlinks
How to Calculate Age
How to Use the ISDATE function