How to Subtract Hours from Time in Excel (2 Easy Ways)

Case 1 – Subtract Less Than 24 Hours from Time in Excel

Method 1.1 – Apply Fundamental Method to Subtract Hours

From the dataset, we can see we have a schedule of starting times for six football matches. Suppose all the matches have been rescheduled and will start 2 hours earlier. We need to subtract 2 hours from the starting time of all the football matches.

Steps:

We need to fix the time format like the dataset that we have given.
Go to the Home tab.
Click on the dropdown from the number section in the ribbon.
Select “More Number Formats”.

A new dialogue box will appear. Select the option “Time” from Category.
In the Type section, select the option “*1:30:00 PM” and press OK. This will set the time format for the worksheet as “*1:30:00 PM”.

Select cell D5 and insert the following formula:

=C5-(2/24)

Press Enter.

The above command subtracts 2 hours from the start time of cell C5 and returns output in cell D5.

Select cell D5. Move the mouse cursor to the bottom right corner of the selected cell so that it turns into a plus (+) sign like the following image. This is the Fill Handle.
Click and drag the Fill Handle down to cell D10 to copy the formula of cell D5 in other cells. You can also double-click on the icon to get the same result.

You can see the updated schedule for all matches after subtracting 2 hours from the start time.

Method 1.2 – Subtract Hours with Excel TIME Function

Let’s repeat the same process with a different function.

Steps:

Select cell D5.
Insert the following formula in that cell:

=C5-TIME(2,0,0)

Press Enter.

Drag the Fill Handle (bottom-right corner of the cell) down to the rest of the column.

You can see the new schedule for all matches after subtracting 2 hours from the start time.

Case 2 – Excel Subtract More Than 24 Hours from Time

To illustrate subtracting more than a day, we will use the same dataset but this time we also have dates with time and will subtract 26 hours from time. So, if we subtract more than 26 hours from a time, the date should change automatically.

Steps:

Set the time format like the dataset. Our time format is a Custom format.
Go to the Home tab.
Click on the dropdown from the Number section in the ribbon.
Select “More Number Formats”.

A new dialogue box will appear. From that box, select the option Custom from the Category.
Copy the format “dd mmmm yyyy, hh:mm:ss AM/PM” in the box for Type.
Press OK.
This will fix the time format for the worksheet as “dd mmmm yyyy, hh:mm:ss AM/PM”.