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. It can be expressed in seconds, minutes, hours, or days. This calculator shows the result as hours, minutes and seconds, plus decimal hours and the share of a 24-hour day.

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). This calculator compares two times of day (up to 24 hours, including overnight spans); for spans across dates, use our Date Difference calculator.

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.

Subtract the start from the end: 1600 − 0800 = 8 hours. When minutes are involved, subtract hours and minutes separately and borrow 60 minutes if needed: 0600 to 1830 is 12 hours 30 minutes, 0830 to 1800 is 9 hours 30 minutes, 1600 to 2200 is 6 hours, and 0600 to 2030 is 14 hours 30 minutes. In the calculator, enter the times as 08:00 and 16:00 (or 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM, depending on how your device shows time inputs) and the result appears immediately.

5 PM to 10 PM is 5 hours, and 8 AM to 3 PM is 7 hours. For times that cross noon, convert to 24-hour time first (3 PM = 15:00, so 15 − 8 = 7). Shorter spans work the same way: 9:55 to 10:40 is 45 minutes, and 10:45 to 11:15 is 30 minutes. If the end time is earlier than the start time, the calculator treats it as the next day, so 10 PM to 6 AM returns 8 hours.

Divide the hours by 24; the whole number is the days and the remainder is the leftover hours. 170 hours = 7 days 2 hours, 214 hours = 8 days 22 hours, 296 hours = 12 days 8 hours, and 59 hours = 2 days 11 hours. For hours and minutes, such as 99 hours 59 minutes, the same rule gives 4 days 3 hours 59 minutes. This calculator measures spans up to 24 hours between two times of day, so use this division for longer totals.

Divide seconds by 60 for minutes, and by 3,600 for hours. 510 seconds = 8.5 minutes (8 minutes 30 seconds). 4,300 seconds = 71 minutes 40 seconds, or 1 hour 11 minutes 40 seconds. Going the other way, 24 hours = 86,400 seconds = 86,400,000 milliseconds.

Convert the time to decimal hours, multiply, then turn the decimal back into minutes by multiplying by 60. 35% of 5 hours = 1.75 hours = 1 hour 45 minutes. 60% of 4 hours = 2.4 hours = 2 hours 24 minutes. At time-and-a-half, 3 hours counts as 3 × 1.5 = 4.5 hours (4 hours 30 minutes). 0.1 of 60 minutes is 6 minutes.

Convert each duration to one unit (minutes or seconds), add them, divide by how many there are, then convert back. For 1 h 25 min, 1 h 40 min and 55 min: 85 + 100 + 55 = 240 minutes, and 240 ÷ 3 = 80 minutes = 1 hour 20 minutes. This calculator measures one start-to-end span at a time, so run each span through it to get the individual durations, then average them with this method.