---
title: "NOW Function in Excel"  
description: "NOW Function in Excel"  
author: "AVADHESH PATEL"  
published: 2013-03-28  
updated: 2019-09-07  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/articles/1174/now-function-in-excel  
category: "excel"  
tags: ["excel"]  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# NOW Function in Excel

The NOW [function](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/43970/purchase-suitable-wedding-dresses-for-your-wedding-function) is [useful](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12694/how-dolomite-mineral-is-useful-in-human-life) when you need to display the [current date](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/323/find-the-day-name-and-month-name-from-current-date) and time on a worksheet or calculate a value based on the current date and time, and have that value updated each time you open the worksheet.\

NOW function return the current date and time of system. If the cell format was General before the function was entered, Excel changes the cell format to the same date and time format that is specified in the [regional](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/86440/how-regional-advertising-can-help-to-grow-local-businesses) date and time [settings](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/99336/how-can-i-configure-gmail-imap-settings) in [Control](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/83439/bipartisan-gun-control-bill-passed-in-us-after-decades) Panel. You can change the date and time format for the cell by using the [commands](https://www.mindstick.com/interview/817/what-is-the-use-of-dbcc-commands) in the Number group of the Home tab on the Ribbon.

Note: Where you apply NOW function, that [column](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/2288/column-site_name-ambiguous-problem)’s data type should be General or [Date format](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/1976/date-format-comparison-issue).

##### Syntax

= NOW ( )

![NOW Function in Excel](https://www.mindstick.com/mindstickarticle/d43c44ee-65a1-41ed-9cc6-7fa2677772bd/images/acbabdd2-b802-4c50-9197-afd0ac4b3261.png)

---

Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/articles/1174/now-function-in-excel

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