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Quickly Entering Dates and Times
Summary: Do you use Excel to track dates and times, perhaps for a timesheet? You can make entering the data much easier if you learn a couple of quick shortcuts that allow you to enter the current date and time. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, and Excel 2003.)
If you are looking for a quick way to enter the current date or time into a cell, Excel provides an excellent shortcut. To enter the current date, just select a cell and press Ctrl+; (that's the semicolon). Closely akin to that is entering the time, which is done by using Ctrl+: (that's the colon).
These shortcuts work even when you are entering formulas. For instance, let's say you wanted to have today's date as a string (within quote marks) in a formula. All you need to do is enter your formula, up to the first quote mark. Then type Ctrl+; and the date appears in the formula. Type your closing quote mark, and you can continue with your formula.
Tip #2178 applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 2000 2002 2003
Got the Time? If you work with either times or dates in Excel, you really need ExcelTips: Times and Dates. Everything you need to know about slicing, dicing, and generally working with times and dates.
Confused by Time?
You can put times into a worksheet, but then what? Need to do calculations with times? How about working with elapsed time? Don't be confused; learn how easy it can be. (more information...)
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