field not autoupdating with todays date - how to fix?

i'm having an issue with my form. i've noticed that my "Date" field, which is designed to populate with the current date using the "Default Date" = today feature and is hidden so people filling out the form cannot update it, is not reflecting the correct date. submissions are saying a submission date of Aril 15th but the auto-filled date field is saying April 5th, etc, for many days in April, all saying April 5th for some reason. i use the second date field instead of just the submission date in case the date of submission needs to be updated later, so i'd like to keep that separate than the submission date but i dont want the people submitting the form to have to select a date or check that it's right.

Why is the date autofilling with a date prior to when it is submitted?

That doesn't really make sense to me, except for if it's autofilling with the date the tab was opened instead of when it was submitted.

If that's the case, how do I get the date field to autopopulate with the date at the time the form is filled out, not necessarily when the form is opened or clicked? Is there logic I could use so that the Date is "calculated" once another field is filled out?

Hi greencitymarket,

Thanks for reaching out to Jotform Support. The reason your Date field is showing an earlier date like April 5th instead of the actual submission date is because the "Default Date" = today feature populates the date when the form is opened or loaded, not when it is submitted. This means if someone opens the form on April 5th but submits it later, the date will still show April 5th. To have the Date field autopopulate with the date at the time the form is actually filled out or submitted, rather than when the form is opened, you can use a workaround by setting the date to be calculated or updated based on another field or action. Here's how:

1. In Form Builder, in the orange navigation bar at the top of the screen, click on Settings.
2. Click on Conditions on the left side of the screen.
3. Click on Add Condition and select Update/Calculate Field.
   
   
4. Set up the conditions like shown below and click on Save.
   
   
   

This way, the date will be set dynamically at the time the user interacts with the form, rather than when they first open it. We also have a guide on How to Insert Text or Calculation Into a Field Conditionally that you can check out.

Give it a try and let us know how it goes.