Time Duration

To calculate the duration between two times, subtract the start time from the end time. For example, if you start at 9:00 AM and finish at 5:30 PM, the elapsed time is 8 hours and 30 minutes. Our free time duration calculator does this instantly — just enter your start and end times and it returns the result in hours, minutes, seconds, and decimal hours.

Enter your start time and end time into the calculator and it will compute the total hours and minutes automatically. If the end time is past midnight, the calculator handles overnight spans correctly. You can also express the result as decimal hours (for example, 8 hours 30 minutes equals 8.5 decimal hours), which is useful for payroll and timesheets.

In Excel, subtract the start time cell from the end time cell (e.g., =B1-A1) and format the result cell as [h]:mm:ss to show durations longer than 24 hours. Multiply by 24 to convert to decimal hours. For quick calculations without opening a spreadsheet, an online time duration calculator is faster and requires no formatting steps.

Elapsed time is the total amount of time that has passed from a start point to an end point. It is calculated by subtracting the start time (and date, if the span crosses days) from the end time. The result can be expressed in seconds, minutes, hours, days, or a combination — our calculator displays all of these at once.

Yes. To account for break periods, calculate the total span from start to end and then subtract the total break time. For example, if you worked from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM with a 1-hour lunch break, the net working time is 8 hours. Some time duration calculators include a built-in break deduction field so you can enter break minutes directly.

To find the total hours between two dates and times, determine the difference in whole days and multiply by 24, then add the remaining hours and minutes. For a span of 2 days, 3 hours, and 15 minutes the total is 51 hours and 15 minutes (or 51.25 decimal hours). The full date-and-time mode of our calculator handles multi-day spans automatically.

Decimal hours express a time duration as a single number rather than hours and minutes separately. To convert, take the minutes portion, divide by 60, and add the result to the whole hours. For example, 2 hours 45 minutes becomes 2 + (45/60) = 2.75 decimal hours. This format is commonly required by payroll systems and billing software.