How to use the Days Between Dates
- Choose the start date and end date, or press Use today for either one.
- Tick Include the end date if both the first and last day should count, as for a vacation from the 1st to the 10th.
- Optionally list public holidays, one per line, so they are left out of the business-day count.
- Read the total days and the breakdown into weeks, months, years, business days and weekend days.
Features
- Exact day count with an include-end-date option
- Breakdown into weeks, months and years
- Business days that skip weekends
- Your own holiday list, remembered in this browser
- Correct across leap years and month ends
- Swaps the dates automatically if the end comes first
How the days are counted
By default the calculator counts how many days you move forward to get from the start date to the end date, the way you would say there is one day between today and tomorrow. From January 1 to January 31 is 30 days. Tick Include the end date when both days should count, such as a vacation or leave period from the 1st to the 31st, which covers 31 days.
Weeks, months and years
- Weeks and days: total days ÷ 7, with the remainder in days.
- Months and days: whole calendar months are counted from the start date, then the leftover days. One month after January 31 is the last day of February, because February has no 31st.
- Years (decimal): total days ÷ 365.2425, the average length of a year in the Gregorian calendar once leap years are included.
Business days
Business days, or working days, are Monday to Friday. The calculator counts weekdays over the same span as the day total, so the end date is only included when you tick the box. It then removes any holidays you list that fall on a weekday inside the range. Public holidays differ by country, state and employer, so none are built in: paste the ones that apply to you, and they will be remembered in this browser for next time.
Example
From Monday, January 1, 2024 to Wednesday, January 31, 2024 there are 30 days. January 1 to 30 contains 22 weekdays. If you list January 1 (New Year's Day) and January 15 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) as holidays, 20 business days remain. Including the end date adds Wednesday the 31st, making 21.
Leap years
Every date is treated as a real calendar day, so leap days are counted automatically. A span that contains February 29 is one day longer: January 1 to December 31, 2024 is 365 days (366 if you count both dates), while the same span in 2023 is 364 days (365).
Choosing the right setting
| What you are counting | Typical setting |
|---|---|
| Countdown to a trip, exam or deadline | Calendar days, end date not counted |
| Length of a vacation or leave period | Include the end date |
| Working days on a project | Business days, with your holidays listed |
| Payment terms such as net 30 | Calendar days from the invoice date |
| Time since an event | Calendar days, or years, months and days |
Legal and contractual deadlines sometimes have their own counting rules, such as excluding the first day or extending a deadline that lands on a holiday, so check the wording that applies to you.
To find the date that is a number of days away instead, use the Date Calculator. For a live countdown on screen, try the Countdown Timer.
Frequently asked questions
Does the count include the start and end dates?
By default it counts the days from the start date up to the end date, so the end date itself is not counted. Tick "Include the end date" to count both, which adds one day.
How are business days calculated?
The calculator counts Mondays to Fridays in the range and then subtracts any holidays you list that fall on those weekdays.
Are public holidays included automatically?
No, because they vary by country, state and employer. Paste your holidays into the box, one per line, and they are excluded from the business-day count.
Does it handle leap years?
Yes. It counts real calendar days, so February 29 is included whenever it falls inside the range.
What if the end date is before the start date?
The calculator swaps them and shows the span between the two dates, with a note so you know it happened.