Work out an age with DATEDIF
Step 1 of 3
An age counts whole years: you are 33 until the day you turn 34. Subtracting the dates gives days, which still have to become complete years.
Click Continue when you're ready.
Already know it? Type the formula straight into C2.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Born | Date | Age | |||
| 2 | Aug 20, 1990 | Mar 15, 2024 | ||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 4 | ||||||
| 5 | ||||||
| 6 | ||||||
| 7 | ||||||
| 8 |
Need help?
Why this works
DATEDIF(A2,B2,"y") counts the whole years from Aug 20, 1990 to Mar 15, 2024. The 34th birthday is not until August, so the answer is 33. Excel does not list DATEDIF in its function menus, but it works in every version.
Common mistake: Dividing the days by 365 and rounding. Leap years and rounding up make someone a year older a few days before their birthday.
The answer
- C2
=DATEDIF(1A2,2B2,3"y")
In plain words: Count the 3whole years from 1the birth date in A2 to 2the date in B2.
=DATEDIF(A2,TODAY(),"y") gives the age in whole years of someone born on A2.
Excel keeps DATEDIF for compatibility and does not show it in the function list or autocomplete, but you can type it and it works.
+10 points