Time difference in excel & Google Sheets (Hours, Mins, Secs)

This tutorial will demonstrate how to calculate time differences in Excel and Google Sheets.

Calculate Total Time Difference

First, we will demonstrate how to calculate the total time difference between times in Hours, Minutes, or Seconds.

Hours Between Times

If you need to calculate the total difference between two times, you can simply subtract the two times and multiply the result by 24:

=(C3-B3)*24

Minutes Between Times

If you need to calculate the total difference in minutes, you can subtract the times and multiply the result by 1440 (24*60).

=(C3-B3)*1440

Seconds Between Times

Last, if you need to calculate the total difference between two times in seconds, multiply the result by 86400 (24*60*60).

=(C3-B3)*86400

HOUR, MINUTE, and SECOND Functions

If you want to calculate the time difference, ignoring dates, there are several functions you can use:

HOUR Function

With the HOUR Function you can calculate the difference in hours between two times.

=HOUR(C3-B3)

MINUTE Function

You can use the MINUTE function to calculate the difference in minutes between two times.

=MINUTE(C3-B3)

SECOND Function

With the SECOND function you can get the difference in seconds between two times:

=SECOND(C3-B3)

Time Difference in [h]:mm:ss Format

If you need to display the total time difference in hours, minutes and seconds, you can simply subtract the times and change the cell number formatting (Format Cells > Custom).

 

Time Difference in Google Sheets

These formulas work exactly the same in Google Sheets as in Excel.