Date Range Calculator
Use our date range calculator to find the amount of time between two dates.
Range Between Dates:
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How to Calculate a Date Range
A date range is the span of days between two specific dates: a start date and an end date. It’s the period of time you’re interested in, whether for a business project, a vacation, or even counting down the days until Christmas, with the date range being the time between now and Christmas Day.
While calculating a range of numbers is fairly straightforward, accurately calculating date ranges can sometimes be tricky because not all months have the same number of days. There are a few different ways to calculate the range between two different dates.
Regardless of which method you choose, the first essential step is to identify the start and end dates in the range. These will be the start and end points of the calculation.
Method One: Calculate the Range Manually
The first method is to grab a calendar and manually count the days between the start and end dates. Locate the starting date in the calendar and start counting the days until the the end date is reached.
This method works well for date ranges where the start and end dates are close together, but it can become difficult and time-consuming when the date range is fairly wide, with a large number of days between the start and end dates.
Method Two: Calculate the Range Using Spreadsheet Software
You can also use spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to calculate a date range. This method works well regardless of how small or large the range is.
Both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel include a DAYS function, where you can calculate the date range in number of days. To use the function, open a new spreadsheet and enter the following formula in an open cell:
DAYS(end_date, start_date)
Substitute your end date and start date for end_date and start_date, respectively, in the formula above and press Enter to see the result.
Method Three: Calculate the Range Using an Online Calculator
The quickest and easiest method to calculate a date range is to use the date range calculator above, our day counter, or our time duration calculator. All of these calculators can quickly calculate a date range in days.
Date Inclusivity vs. Exclusivity
When calculating a date range, it’s essential to decide whether the range is inclusive or exclusive.
Inclusive date ranges includes both the start and the end date in the total number of days. For example, the range from January 1 to January 3, inclusive, is three days.
Exclusive date ranges include the start date but not the end date. Using the above example, the range from January 1 to January 3 exclusive is two days.
Our calculators, as well as the DAYS function in Excel and Sheets all use the exclusive method. If you use one of these tools and you need to calculate a range inclusive of the start and end dates, then you need to add 1 to the resulting range to account for this discrepancy.
You might also like our time calculator.