Days Until (or Since) a Date

All versionsTODAY

A live countdown — days until a deadline, days since an invoice — is just date subtraction. Because dates are stored as numbers, future - TODAY() gives the days between, and it refreshes itself every day the file opens.

Quick formula: for a target date in A2:

=A2 - TODAY()

A positive result is days remaining; negative means the date has passed. Format the cell as a number, not a date.

Functions used (tap for the full reference guide):

TODAY DATEDIF

The example

Days remaining until each deadline (as of today).

	A	B
1	Deadline	Days left
2	7/01/2026	15
3	6/20/2026	4
4	6/10/2026	-6

The formula

Days remaining in B2:

=A2 - TODAY() // deadline minus today, in days

How it works

Date math is plain subtraction:

Excel stores each date as a serial number (days since 1900), so subtracting two dates yields a count of days.
A2 - TODAY() gives days until A2 — positive while it’s in the future.
Flip it — TODAY() - A2 — for days since a past date (e.g. invoice age).
Format the result as a number; if it shows as a date, set the cell format to General or Number.

Working days only? Use =NETWORKDAYS(TODAY(), A2) to count business days until the deadline, skipping weekends.

Try it: interactive demo

Live demo

Pick a target date; see days until (or since) today.

Target date (A2)

Variations

Days since a past date

Invoice age in days:

=TODAY() - A2

Working days until

Skip weekends:

=NETWORKDAYS(TODAY(), A2)

Weeks or months remaining

Divide by 7, or use DATEDIF for whole months:

=DATEDIF(TODAY(), A2, "m")

Pitfalls & errors

Result shows as a date. Subtracting dates can inherit date formatting. Set the cell to Number/General to see the day count.

TODAY() changes every day. That’s the point — but it means the value isn’t fixed. To freeze a countdown at a moment, paste the result as a value.

Text dates won’t subtract. If A2 is text, you get #VALUE!. Convert to a real date first.

Practice workbook

📊

Download the free Days Until (or Since) a Date practice workbook

Deadlines with live days-until (and days-since), the working-days and months variants, plus 4 challenges with answers. No sign-up required.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate days until a date in Excel?

Subtract today from the target: =A2 - TODAY(). A positive result is days remaining; negative means it has passed. Format the cell as a number.

How do I count only working days until a date?

Use =NETWORKDAYS(TODAY(), A2), which counts business days and skips weekends. Add a holiday range as a third argument to skip those too.

Why does my days-until result show as a date?

The cell inherited date formatting from the subtraction. Change the cell format to General or Number to display the day count.

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Function references: TODAY · DATEDIF