Date & Timeintermediate
Calculate a due date skipping weekends with WORKDAY
=WORKDAY(A2,30)
Excel how-to guide
How to today days remaining in Excel
Track how many days are left until a project deadline, contract expiry, or event date without manually updating the spreadsheet.
Step-by-step instructions
How to today days remaining — 3 steps
1
Enter the deadline date in column A.
2
Subtract TODAY() from the deadline date — Excel returns a date serial number representing the difference in days.
3
Format the result cell as a Number (not a Date) so it displays as an integer count of days.
Example data
Worked example
| Deadline | Days Remaining |
|---|---|
| 2026-04-30 | 35 |
| 2026-05-15 | 50 |
| 2026-03-20 | -6 |
Common mistakes
Errors to watch out for
Result shows a date instead of a number
Excel formats date subtraction results as dates by default. Select the cell and change the format to General or Number to see the integer day count.
Negative result
A negative result means the deadline has already passed. Wrap in ABS() to show the absolute number of days, or use an IF to show "Overdue" instead.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How do I show "Overdue" when the deadline has passed?
Use =IF(A2<TODAY(),"Overdue",A2-TODAY()) to display a label for past deadlines and a day count for future ones.
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Date & Timeintermediate
Calculate age in years with DATEDIF
=DATEDIF(A2,TODAY(),"Y")