When you’re in the zone, cranking through Excel reports, it can be difficult to remember when you last updated the file. Meet your very own, built-in assistant: the NOW function. Excel’s NOW function creates a timestamp that updates every time a change is made in the workbook.
The NOW function is one of very few Excel functions with no arguments. To use it, simply select a blank cell, type “=NOW(),” and hit enter to see the current date and time appear in the cell. Look at what happens if I update “2021 Revenue Summary” to “2022 Revenue Summary” in the example above. The time stamp automatically updates the date and time that the change was made!
A few things to note:
- Calculations must be set to automatic for this to work. To do this, go to the Formulas tab > Calculation Options > check “Automatic.”
- If the NOW function is only returning the current time instead of date and time, the cell’s format needs to be updated. To fix the format, hit CTRL+1 > Number Tab > select “Custom” > enter “dd-mm-yyyy hh:mm AM/PM” in the type field > hit OK.
