Arguments
start_date- The earlier date.end_date- The later date.unit- "Y" years, "M" months, "D" days, and "YM"/"MD"/"YD" for remainders.
DATEDIF
Returns the difference between two dates in complete years, months, or days.
Syntax
=DATEDIF(start_date, end_date, unit)=DATEDIF(A2, B2, "Y")Returns: Whole years between the dates
Common for age or tenure.
=DATEDIF(A2, TODAY(), "D")Returns: Days from A2 until today
Pair with TODAY() for a live counter.
Common Errors and Gotchas
- DATEDIF returns #NUM! if start_date is later than end_date.
- It's a legacy function with no autocomplete - type it in full. It works but is undocumented in modern Excel.
Does DATEDIF Work in Google Sheets?
Google Sheets supports DATEDIF with the same arguments.
Build a DATEDIF formula
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