In the example, the date is March 9, 2016, which is the serial number 42,438. So: This means there are 13,033 days before January 1, 2050, when counting from March 9, 2016.

Without TODAY

Note: you don’t need to use the TODAY function. In the second example, the formula in D6 is:

Concatenating with text

In the third example, the same basic formula is used along with concatenation operator (&) to embed the calculated days in a simple text message: Since there are 15 days between December 10, 2014 and December 25, 2014, the result is this message: Just 15 days left!

Workdays only

To calculate workdays between dates, you can use the NETWORKDAYS function as explained here.

Dave Bruns

Hi - I’m Dave Bruns, and I run Exceljet with my wife, Lisa. Our goal is to help you work faster in Excel. We create short videos, and clear examples of formulas, functions, pivot tables, conditional formatting, and charts.