Mehedi Hasan Shimul
Sometimes we need to calculate the hour between 2 times from different or the same date. It’s quite simple to do in Excel. We can find the hour difference in several ways. In this article, we will discuss 6 such easy and simple methods to calculate hours from date and time in Excel.
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6 Easy Methods to Calculate Hours from Date and Time in Excel
We can calculate hours from date and time in Excel following different methods. Here we will show you 6 simple and easy methods to calculate hours from date and time in Excel. In our dataset, we can see the starting time (B5:B7) and the end time (C5:C7) of a small project. Now, we will calculate the hours.
Method 1: Subtract One Time from Another to Calculate Hours in Excel
In this method, we will directly subtract one time from another to calculate the hour difference. We are discussing the steps below for this method.
- In the dataset we select the date and time first to change the format.
- First, select the cell range B5:C7.
- Go to Number Format of the Home tab in the ribbon and select More Number Formats.
- From the Format cell box, we select the Custom format and choose dd-mm-yy h:mm as the format type.
- Then press OK.
- Now, we select the cells for Difference in Hours to change its format also.
- From the Format Cells box, we select the Custom Category and choose [h] as the format type.
- After that, press OK.
- Next, we write the following formula in cell D5 and hit Enter.
=C5-B5- Use the Fill Handle to copy the formula in the cells below.
- We have calculated the hour difference between two different times successfully.
Read More: How to Subtract Hours from Time in Excel (2 Easy Ways)
Method 2: Get Hours from Date and Time with Excel TEXT Function
We can also use The TEXT Function of Excel to get the hour difference between two dates and times. We need to fix the format of the cells (B5:C7) by following the procedure from Method 1.
- First, in cell D5 we write the following formula and hit Enter.
=TEXT(C5-B5,"h")- Next, use the Fill Handle to copy the formula in the below cells.
Read More: Calculate Hours Between Two Dates and Times in Excel Excluding Weekends
Method 3: Count Hours, Minutes, Seconds Using Simple Formula
We can also calculate the difference between two dates and times in hours, minutes and seconds by using a very simple formula. Following procedures from Method 1 we need to fix the formats of the cell range B5:C7 first. Then we follow the following steps.
- In the beginning, we write the following formula in cell D5 and press Enter.
=(C5-B5)*24- Now, use the Fill handle to copy the formula in the following cells.
- Then we write the formula given below in cell E5 and hit Enter.
=(C5-B5)*1440- We copy the formula in the below cells using the Fill Handle.
- After that, in cell F5 we write the formula given below and press Enter.
=(C5-B5)*86400- Now, we copy the formula in the cells below using the Fill Handle.
- Yahoo! We have successfully calculated the difference of time in hours, minutes and seconds.
Read More: Excel Formula to Calculate Overtime and Double Time (3 Ways)
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Method 4: Calculate Elapsed Hours in Excel from Start Time to Present
We can calculate the elapsed time by subtracting the starting time from present time. Excel has the NOW function to determine the present date and time, we will use that in this method. We fix the formats for the cells (B5:C7) by following procedures from Method 1. We are showing the steps for this method below.
- Firstly, write the following formula in cell C5 and hit Enter.
=NOW()-B5- After that, use AutoFill to see the result below.
Read More: Calculate Elapsed Time Between Two Dates in Excel (5 Methods)
Method 5: Display Time Difference as Days, Hours, Minutes, Seconds Format
In this method we will calculate the difference as days, months, minutes and seconds. Following procedures from Method 1, we fix the cell (B5:C7) format first. Now we follow the steps given below.
- Write the following formula in cell D5 and hit Enter.
=INT(C5-B5) & " days, " & HOUR(C5-B5) & " hours, " & MINUTE(C5-B5) & " minutes and " & SECOND(C5-B5) & " seconds"
- Further, we use the Fill Handle to copy the formula in the following cells.
- Finally, we have calculated the difference of time in days, hours, minutes and seconds.
Read More: How to Calculate Time Difference Between AM and PM in Excel
Method 6: Calculate and Display Negative Hours from Date and Time in Excel
So far we calculated the time difference as positive, we may want to subtract the time from any past time which will give a negative difference. We fix the cell (B5:C7) format following procedures from Method 1. We can calculate the negative hours following the steps below.
- First, write the following formula in cell D5 and press Enter.
=IF(C5-B5>0, C5-B5, "-" & TEXT(ABS(C5-B5),"h"))- Then, use the Fill Handle to copy the formula in the cells below.
- Hurrah! We have successfully calculated the negative hour difference.
Read More: How to Calculate Difference Between Two Dates and Times in Excel
Conclusion
Hour difference is very useful in time of different date and time calculations. It’s quite easy in Excel to find the hour difference. In this article, we have shown 6 easy methods to calculate hours from date and time in Excel. If you face any problem following the steps, please let us know by commenting. Please visit our ExcelDemy site for similar articles regarding Excel.
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