7 Excel Date Shortcuts You Should Memorize

1. Ctrl+; — Insert Today's Date

Press Ctrl+; (semicolon) to insert today's date into the active cell. This enters a static value — the date won't change tomorrow.

This is probably the most useful date shortcut in Excel. Memorize it.

2. Ctrl+Shift+; — Insert Current Time

Press Ctrl+Shift+; to insert the current time. Like the date shortcut, this is a static value that won't update.

Useful for logging when something happened, timestamping entries, or tracking work hours.

3. Ctrl+; then Space then Ctrl+Shift+; — Date and Time Together

Need both date and time in one cell? Press Ctrl+; to insert the date, then press Space, then press Ctrl+Shift+; to add the time.

The result looks like “1/15/2025 2:30 PM” — a complete timestamp in one cell.

4. Fill Handle for Sequential Dates

Enter a date, then drag the fill handle (the small square at the bottom-right corner of the cell) down or across. Excel automatically fills in sequential dates.

Pro tip: Right-click and drag the fill handle to get options for filling weekdays only, months, or years instead of consecutive days.

5. Ctrl+D — Copy Date Down

Select a cell with a date and the empty cells below it. Press Ctrl+D to fill down, copying the date to all selected cells.

This works for any content, not just dates, but it's especially useful when you need the same date in multiple rows.

6. Ctrl+Shift+# — Apply Date Format

Have a number that should be displayed as a date? Select the cell and press Ctrl+Shift+# to apply the default date format (d-mmm-yy).

This is handy when you've accidentally formatted dates as numbers or when importing data that comes in as serial numbers.

7. Ctrl+1 — Quick Format Dialog

Press Ctrl+1 to open the Format Cells dialog, which gives you full control over date formatting. You can choose from preset formats or create custom ones.

Common custom formats:

• yyyy-mm-dd — ISO format (2025-01-15)
• dddd, mmmm d, yyyy — Full date (Wednesday, January 15, 2025)
• mmm-yy — Short month-year (Jan-25)
• ddd — Day of week abbreviation (Wed)

Bonus: TODAY() and NOW() Functions

These aren't shortcuts exactly, but they're worth knowing:

=TODAY() returns today's date and updates automatically each day. Use this when you want a cell to always show the current date.

=NOW() returns the current date and time, updating with each recalculation.

The difference from Ctrl+; is that these are dynamic — they change. Use the keyboard shortcut for static timestamps, functions for dynamic dates.

Official Resources

• Excel keyboard shortcuts — complete shortcuts list
• TODAY function — dynamic date functions