Create Excel Files With Date And Time Data In PHP Using PHPSpreadSheet

Create a new xlsx file with correct cell date format settings.

Requirements:

Composer
PHP 7.2 or newer

Step 1.

Setup dependencies.

composer.json

{
    "require": {
        "phpoffice/phpspreadsheet": "^1.3"
    }
}

Step 2.

Install phpspreadsheet.

command line

$ composer install

Step 3.

Create a new PHP file, and start coding.

create-xlsx-files-with-date-and-time-data.php

<?php

// Autoload dependencies
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

// Import the core class of PhpSpreadsheet
use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Spreadsheet;

// Import the Xlsx writer class
use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Writer\Xlsx;

// Create a new Spreadsheet object
$spreadsheet = new Spreadsheet();

// Retrieve the current active worksheet
$sheet = $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet();

// Set cell A1 with the "Current Date" string value
$sheet->setCellValue('A1', date('F d, Y'));

// Format cell A1 as date
$sheet->getStyle('A1')
    ->getNumberFormat()
    ->setFormatCode(\PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Style\NumberFormat::FORMAT_DATE_YYYYMMDDSLASH)
;

// Set cell A4 with the "Current Date" timestamp value
$sheet->setCellValue('A4', \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Shared\Date::PHPToExcel(time()));

// Format cell A4 as date
$sheet->getStyle('A4')
    ->getNumberFormat()
    ->setFormatCode(\PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Style\NumberFormat::FORMAT_DATE_YYYYMMDDSLASH)
;

// Set cell A7 with the "Current Date" timestamp value without formatting
$sheet->setCellValue('A7', \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Shared\Date::PHPToExcel(time()));

// Write a new .xlsx file
$writer = new Xlsx($spreadsheet);

// Save the new .xlsx file
$writer->save('create-xlsx-files-with-date-and-time-data.xlsx');

Test.

Run the following codes.

command line

$ php create-xlsx-files-with-date-and-time-data.php

Result.

Open the generated file create-xlsx-files-with-date-and-time-data.xlsx.

PHP

// Set cell A1 with the "Current Date" string value
$sheet->setCellValue('A1', date('F d, Y'));

// Format cell A1 as date
$sheet->getStyle('A1')
    ->getNumberFormat()
    ->setFormatCode(\PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Style\NumberFormat::FORMAT_DATE_YYYYMMDDSLASH)
;

PHP

// Set cell A4 with the "Current Date" timestamp value
$sheet->setCellValue('A4', \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Shared\Date::PHPToExcel(time()));

// Format cell A4 as date
$sheet->getStyle('A4')
    ->getNumberFormat()
    ->setFormatCode(\PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Style\NumberFormat::FORMAT_DATE_YYYYMMDDSLASH)
;

PHP

// Set cell A7 with the "Current Date" timestamp value without formatting
$sheet->setCellValue('A7', \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Shared\Date::PHPToExcel(time()));

References:

How to install PhpSpreadsheetOn this site

Creating a spreadsheetphpspreadsheet.readthedocs.io

Reading and writing to filephpspreadsheet.readthedocs.io

PhpSpreadsheet Recipesphpspreadsheet.readthedocs.io