3 to 5 weeks. Refrigerated eggs in their carton typically stay good for about a month past the pack date.
Eggs have one of the longer fridge lives of any perishable, which surprises people used to thinking of them as fragile. The shell itself does most of the protective work, as long as it stays intact and cold.
What actually shortens an egg's life is temperature swings, cracked shells, and time spent out of the fridge — not just the date stamped on the carton.
In the US, eggs are refrigerated from the farm onward, so they need to stay cold the whole way home and after. Stored at 40°F (4°C) or below, raw eggs in the shell are good for 3 to 5 weeks from the pack date — often longer, just with declining quality. That long window exists because the shell and an inner membrane block most bacteria, and the fridge slows down what does get through.
Unsure about an egg near the end of its window? Drop it in a bowl of water. Fresh eggs sink and lie flat on the bottom. An egg that stands on end is older but often still fine to use. One that floats has enough air built up inside to signal it's past its best and should be tossed. The float test checks age and air content, not bacterial safety directly, so pair it with a smell check once you crack the egg open.
Hard-boiled eggs, still in the shell, keep for about a week in the fridge — shorter than raw eggs because boiling removes the protective coating on the shell. Store them in a covered container rather than loose.
Skip any egg with a cracked shell unless it broke during cooking and you used it right away — cracks let bacteria in past the shell's defenses. Toss anything that smells sulfurous or unpleasant once cracked open. For older eggs, cook them fully instead of using them raw or runny, since thorough cooking kills off anything that might have gotten through.
Egg cartons in the US are often stamped with a Julian date (a three-digit number for the day of the year) rather than just a calendar date, so checking that number can tell you how fresh a carton really is compared to one sitting next to it on the shelf.
Eggs are more durable than most people assume, but the carton date is a guideline, not a guarantee. Cold storage, an intact shell, and a quick sniff test do the real work.
Crack it into a bowl first — a bad egg smells sulfurous or rotten immediately. Watery whites or pink or greenish tints are also warning signs.
Often yes, if they've been refrigerated the whole time and pass a smell and float check. The date is a quality marker, not a hard safety cutoff.
No. The door is the warmest, most temperature-variable spot in the fridge. Keep eggs on an interior shelf instead.
In the US, yes — US eggs are washed, which removes a protective coating, so they must stay cold. In parts of Europe, unwashed eggs are often kept at room temperature safely.