Pre-fill a cell with today's date [duplicate]

Question

I would like a certain cell of mine to display today's date when I starts a new row.

Is it possible?

Answer 1

As mentioned by @Jacob Jan Tuinstra, TODAY updates automatically (so does NOW) and as I don't see the value of an entire column within which each cell always shows the current date, I interpret the requirement to be for a non-volatile solution. Hence suggest:

Ctrl+;

in the cell starting a new row. For such cells to be populated with the same result automatically would require a script with an OnEdit trigger.

Answer 2

You can use the =NOW() function inside that cell;

http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=82712&version=static#section_Date

Answer 3

For todays date, you can use the following formula.

Formula

=TODAY()

Explained

The TODAY() formula provides the current date with no time component. It's better to use that, than to use the NOW() formula. This will update on every edit made to the sheet, see reference.

Note

Please realize that the value returned by the TODAY() formula isn't permanent.

Reference

1. TODAY
2. NOW