# Date Navigation

> FullCalendar v3 documentation, for an old release. Web version: https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/date-navigation
>
> Latest version (v7): https://fullcalendar.io/docs/date-navigation.md

Methods and settings that determine the view's current dates.

## Articles

- [defaultDate](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/defaultDate.md) - The initial date displayed when the calendar first loads.
- [dateIncrement](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/dateIncrement.md) - How far into the future/past the calendar navigates when prev/next is executed.
- [dateAlignment](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/dateAlignment.md) - Determines the first visible day of a custom view.
- [validRange](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/validRange.md) - Limits which dates the user can navigate to and where events can go.

## Methods

- [prev](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/prev.md) - Moves the calendar one step back (by a month or week for example).
- [next](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/next.md) - Moves the calendar one step forward (by a month or week for example).
- [prevYear](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/prevYear.md) - Moves the calendar back one year.
- [nextYear](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/nextYear.md) - Moves the calendar forward one year.
- [today](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/today.md) - Moves the calendar to the current date.
- [gotoDate](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/gotoDate.md) - Moves the calendar to an arbitrary date.
- [incrementDate](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/incrementDate.md) - Moves the calendar forward/backward an arbitrary amount of time.
- [getDate](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/getDate.md) - Returns a Moment for the current date of the calendar.

## See Also

- [viewRender](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/viewRender.md) - Triggered when a new date-range is rendered, or when the view type switches.
- [viewDestroy](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/viewDestroy.md) - Triggered when a rendered date-range needs to be torn down.
- [Date Nav Links](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/date-nav-links.md) - Turns various datetime text into clickable links that the user can use for navigation.

## Demos

- [Using external buttons with date API](https://legacy.fullcalendar.io/v3/date-api-buttons-demo)