Working with dates in Google Sheets
Google Sheets stores every date as a number: the count of days since December 30, 1899. You only see a date because of the cell's format. That makes date math simple: =C2-B2 returns the number of days between two dates, and =C2+7 returns the date one week later.
=TODAY() returns the current date and updates every day, so =C2-TODAY() always shows how many days are left until a deadline. Use =NOW() if you also need the time.
Syntax
=end_date - start_date · =date + days · =TODAY()
Example
=C2-TODAY()
Days left until the due date in C2 (negative once it has passed).
Common mistakes
- Dates typed as text (left-aligned) can't be used in math.
- A result like 46090 means the cell needs a date format.
- Mixing up day/month order between US and other locales.
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