DATEDIF Function

Calculates the difference between two dates in days, months, or years. Commonly used for age calculations and duration tracking.

ExcelGoogle Sheets

Syntax

DATEDIF(start_date, end_date, unit)

Parameter	Description
start_date	The start date (must be earlier than or equal to end_date).
end_date	The end date.
unit	"Y" = years, "M" = months, "D" = days, "MD" = days ignoring months/years, "YM" = months ignoring years, "YD" = days ignoring years.

Calculate age in years

=DATEDIF(A2, TODAY(), "Y")

Result: 30 (if born 30 years ago)

Months between two dates

=DATEDIF("2024-01-15", "2024-09-20", "M")

Result: 8

Full age display

=DATEDIF(A2,TODAY(),"Y") & " years, " & DATEDIF(A2,TODAY(),"YM") & " months"

Result: 30 years, 5 months

•DATEDIF is undocumented in Excel (no autocomplete) but fully functional.
•Start date must be ≤ end date or you'll get a #NUM! error.
•The "MD" unit can produce incorrect results in some edge cases — test carefully.
•Google Sheets fully supports and documents DATEDIF.

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