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To find the most recent date in Google Sheets, you can use the MAX function in a formula to automatically calculate the highest value in a range of dates. This will return the most recent date in the range. Alternatively, you can use the SORT function to sort the range of dates in descending order and then select the first date in the sorted list, which will also be the most recent date. Additionally, you can use the built-in filter or sort options in Google Sheets to organize your data by date and easily identify the most recent date.
You can use the following formulas in Google Sheets to find the most recent date in a specific range:
Method 1: Find Most Recent Date
=MAX(B2:B11)
This particular formula returns the most recent date in the range B2:B11.
Method 2: Find Most Recent Date Based on Criteria
=MAX(INDEX((F1=A2:A11)*B2:B11,))
This particular formula returns the most recent date in the range B2:B11 only for the cells where the corresponding value in the range A2:A11 is equal to the value in cell F1.
The following examples show how to use each method in practice with the following dataset in Google Sheets:
Example 1: Find Most Recent Date in Google Sheets
We can type the following formula into cell F1 to find the most recent date in column B of the dataset:
=MAX(B2:B11)
The following screenshot shows how to use this formula in practice:
The formula returns 12/10/2023, which is the most recent date (i.e. “the latest date”) in this dataset.
Example 2: Find Most Recent Date Based on Criteria in Google Sheets
We can type the following formula into cell F2 to find the most recent date for the employee named “Bob” in the dataset:
=MAX(INDEX((F1=A2:A11)*B2:B11,))
The following screenshot shows how to use this formula in practice:
The formula returns 9/15/2023, which is the most recent date for the employee named “Bob” in the dataset.
Note: If this formula returns a numeric value then you should click cell F2, then click the Format tab along the top ribbon, then click Number, then click Date to format the numeric value as a date.
Additional Resources
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common tasks in Google Sheets: