How do I add and subtract hours and minutes?
download.fan · Updated
Short answer
Add or subtract hours and minutes in separate columns, and carry or borrow 60 minutes instead of 100. 2 h 45 min + 1 h 50 min gives 3 h 95 min, which is 4 h 35 min. For 9 h 15 min − 5 h 40 min, borrow an hour to get 8 h 75 min, then subtract to get 3 h 35 min. Or convert everything to minutes first.
Step by step
Step 1: Line up the units
Write hours under hours and minutes under minutes.
Step 2: Work out the minutes
Add or subtract them. If you need to subtract more minutes than you have, borrow 1 hour as 60 minutes.
Step 3: Carry any extra
When minutes reach 60 or more, change each 60 into 1 hour.
Step 4: Work out the hours
Add or subtract hours, including anything you carried or borrowed.
Can a calculator add time for me?
Yes. This time calculator adds and subtracts durations in days, hours, minutes and seconds, and it finds the clock time before or after a starting point. You can also type a whole sum, such as 1d 2h 3m 4s + 4h 5s. It doesn't apply daylight saving clock changes, so adjust by hand if your range crosses one.
A normal calculator gives wrong answers on time written as 2.45, because it treats the digits after the point as hundredths, not minutes.
How do I find the hours between two clock times?
Change both to 24-hour time and subtract. A shift from 8:45 to 17:30 is 8 h 45 min. For an overnight shift, split it at midnight: 22:30 to 06:15 is 1 h 30 min before midnight plus 6 h 15 min after, or 7 h 45 min.
How do I turn minutes into decimal hours?
Divide the minutes by 60. 45 minutes is 0.75 hours, so 8 h 45 min is 8.75 hours. 1 h 25 min is about 1.42 hours. Timesheets and pay usually need this format, since you can multiply it by an hourly rate.
How do I add time in Excel or Google Sheets?
Enter times as h:mm and add the cells with =A2+A3. If a total above 24 hours looks wrong, format the cell as [h]:mm, which stops it from rolling over to zero after each full day.