How to Create a Date Countdown in Excel

Countdown Timer of Days Remaining, Days To Go, or Days Left to an Event Date

Excel is a powerful tool for project management and tracking important dates. One handy feature is the ability to create a date countdown, which helps you keep track of how many days are left until a specific event. In this tutorial, we'll walk through the steps to set up a date countdown in Excel, along with calculating the number of working days between today and the event date. Be sure and watch the video below.

How to create a Date Countdown in Excel to show you both the number of calendar days remaining until an event date, as well as how to calculate the number of working days left between now and that particular date.

Step 1: Set Up Your Excel Workbook

• Open Excel and create a new workbook.

• Label your worksheet appropriately, such as "Date Countdown."

Step 2: Enter Your Event Date

• In a cell, enter the date of your event or deadline. For example, let's say our event date is is a software implementation go-live of January 1, 2025.

Step 3: Calculate Calendar Days Countdown

• Select the cell where you want the countdown to appear.

• Type the formula: =Event_Date_Cell - TODAY(). Replace "Event_Date_Cell" with the cell reference containing your event date.

• Press Enter.

• Format the cell as "General" to display the number of days.

Step 4: Calculate Working Days Countdown

• Select another cell where you want the working days countdown to appear, which will exclude weekend days.

• Type the formula: =NETWORKDAYS(TODAY(), Event_Date_Cell).

• Press Enter.

• Format the call as “General” to display the number of days.

Step 5: Test Your Countdowns

• Save your workbook and close it.

• Reopen the workbook on another day to see the countdowns update automatically based on the current date.

Step 6: Bonus: Considering Holidays

• If you want to account for holidays, or change the weekends in your working days calculation, you can customize the NETWORKDAYS formula by adding a list of holidays as an additional argument. Be sure and watch this video on how to calculate working days in Excel to see more on how to do this.

Creating a date countdown in Excel is a simple yet effective way to stay organized and keep track of important dates and deadlines. By following these easy steps, you can set up your own countdowns and ensure you never miss an important event again.

Now that you've mastered date countdowns in Excel, explore more advanced features and functionalities to streamline your project management tasks. Check out the Excel Tutorial Playlist on my Channel to keep learning more!

Happy Excel-ing!