How to Convert Microsoft® Excel hh:mm Times Into Decimal Hours

A formula to convert a time expressed in hh:mm format into hours and fractions of an hour

Last updated on 2024-05-15.

Time Conversion Formula

If cell B2 contains the time in hours and minutes, for example 7:30, then this formula is one way to turn that time into its decimal equivalent in hours, that is 7.50:

=INT(B2)*24+HOUR(B2)+ROUND(MINUTE(B2)/60,2)

The inclusion of the ROUND() function limits the calculation of the time to two decimal places in this example, that is, 7.50.

In this illustration Column C has been formatted to two decimal places to correspond to the two places assigned to the ROUND() function via its second argument:

Excel time conversion formula

Note the application of the [h]:mm custom number format to the times in Column B. If you don't apply that format you might get some funny results.

My article Excel Formulae and Formats for Time Differences has an explanation of how Excel manages times greater than 24 hours.

Rounding Numbers has a full discussion on rounding in Excel, Access and VBA.

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Disclaimer

David Wallis does not accept any liability for loss or damage to data to which any techniques, methods or code included in this website are applied. Back up your data; test thoroughly before using on live data.