How to Use the NOW Function in Excel to Show the Current Time

The NOW function in Excel is a built-in function that returns the current date and time. It is a volatile function, which means it updates automatically whenever the worksheet is recalculated or opened. The syntax of the NOW function is:

=NOW()

There are no arguments required for this function. You can simply enter it in any cell and it will display the current date and time in the default format of your system. You can also format the cell to show only the date or only the time, or use a custom format to display the date and time in any way you want.

Step-by-Step Guide

Here are the steps to use the NOW function in Excel to show the current time:

1. Open a new or existing Excel workbook.
2. Select a cell where you want to enter the NOW function.
3. Type =NOW() and press Enter. You will see the current date and time in the cell.
4. To change the format of the date and time, select the cell and go to the Home tab. Click on the Number Format drop-down menu and choose one of the options, such as Short Date, Long Date, Time, or Custom.
5. If you choose Custom, you can enter your own format code in the Type box. For example, you can use mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss AM/PM to show the month, day, year, hour, minute, second, and AM/PM indicator. You can also use other symbols to separate the date and time components, such as dashes, slashes, dots, or spaces.
6. To update the date and time, you can either press F9 to recalculate the worksheet, or save and reopen the workbook.

Example

Let’s say you want to create a simple time tracker in Excel to record the start and end time of your tasks. You can use the NOW function to automatically insert the current time when you begin and finish a task. Here is how you can do it:

1. Create a table with four columns: Task, Start Time, End Time, and Duration. You can also add a header row with the column names.
2. In the Start Time column, enter =NOW() in the first cell below the header. This will show the current time when you start your first task.
3. In the End Time column, enter =NOW() in the first cell below the header. This will show the current time when you finish your first task.
4. In the Duration column, enter =C2-B2 in the first cell below the header. This will calculate the difference between the end time and the start time, and show the duration of your first task in hours, minutes, and seconds.
5. To format the Duration column, select it and go to the Home tab. Click on the Number Format drop-down menu and choose Custom. In the Type box, enter [h]:mm:ss to show the duration in hours, minutes, and seconds. You can also use other symbols to separate the time components, such as dots or spaces.
6. To add more tasks, simply copy and paste the formulas in the Start Time, End Time, and Duration columns to the next rows. The formulas will automatically update with the current time when you paste them.
7. To see the total duration of all your tasks, you can use the SUM function at the bottom of the Duration column. Enter =SUM(D2:D6) in the last cell of the column, where D2:D6 is the range of cells that contain the durations of your tasks. This will show the sum of all the durations in hours, minutes, and seconds.

Here is an example of how the table might look like:

Other Approaches to Show the Current Time in Excel

Besides the NOW function, there are other ways to show the current time in Excel. Here are some of them:

• You can use the TODAY function to show the current date only. The syntax is =TODAY(). You can format the cell to show the date in any way you want.
• You can use the TIME function to show the current time only. The syntax is =TIME(hour, minute, second), where hour, minute, and second are numbers between 0 and 59. You can use the HOUR, MINUTE, and SECOND functions to get the current hour, minute, and second from the NOW function. For example, =TIME(HOUR(NOW()), MINUTE(NOW()), SECOND(NOW())) will show the current time in the format of hh:mm:ss.
• You can use the DATE function to show the current date and time with a custom format. The syntax is =DATE(year, month, day), where year, month, and day are numbers that represent the date. You can use the YEAR, MONTH, and DAY functions to get the current year, month, and day from the NOW function. For example, =DATE(YEAR(NOW()), MONTH(NOW()), DAY(NOW())) will show the current date in the format of yyyy/mm/dd. You can also add the TIME function to show the current time as well. For example, =DATE(YEAR(NOW()), MONTH(NOW()), DAY(NOW()))+TIME(HOUR(NOW()), MINUTE(NOW()), SECOND(NOW())) will show the current date and time in the format of yyyy/mm/dd hh:mm:ss.