How to add hours and minutes
Utilio editorial teamPublished: 5 min read
To add hours and minutes, add the hours and the minutes separately, then turn every 60 minutes into an extra hour. 7:45 + 8:30 is 15 hours and 75 minutes, which is 16:15. The most common mistake is treating time like decimal numbers and writing 15.75 or 16.15, which are different amounts.
Adding time: the step people forget
A week of hours
Monday 7:45, Tuesday 8:10, Wednesday 7:30, Thursday 8:00 and Friday 6:50.
Hours: 7 + 8 + 7 + 8 + 6 = 36.
Minutes: 45 + 10 + 30 + 0 + 50 = 135 minutes = 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Total: 36 h + 2 h 15 min = 38 h 15 min.
38 hours and 15 minutes (38:15)
Subtracting time: borrow an hour
If the top minutes are smaller than the bottom ones, turn one hour into 60 minutes, just like borrowing in subtraction:
From 8:45 AM to 5:10 PM
First switch to 24-hour time: 5:10 PM is 17:10 (add 12 to PM hours, except 12 PM).
17:10 − 8:45. Since 10 is less than 45, turn one hour into minutes: 17:10 = 16 h 70 min.
16 − 8 = 8 hours; 70 − 45 = 25 minutes.
8 hours and 25 minutes
Shifts that cross midnight
If the end time is earlier than the start time, the shift ends the next day. Count the time until midnight and add the hours after it: from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM is 2 + 6 = 8 hours.
Shift that crosses midnight
Length = (24:00 − start) + end
Work out shifts with breaks, add up the hours of several days or subtract durations without doing the math.
Open the time calculatorConverting minutes to decimal hours
Hourly pay, invoices and many spreadsheets use decimal hours. To convert, divide the minutes by 60:
Decimal hours
Decimal hours = hours + minutes ÷ 60
| Minutes | Decimal hours |
|---|---|
| 15 min | 0.25 |
| 20 min | 0.33 |
| 30 min | 0.5 |
| 40 min | 0.67 |
| 45 min | 0.75 |
| 50 min | 0.83 |
Pay for 38:15 at $20 an hour
38 h 15 min = 38 + 15 ÷ 60 = 38.25 hours.
38.25 × 20 = $765.
Using 38.15 by mistake would give $763: $2 short every week.
$765
Adding time in Excel
- Type times as
7:45and add them with=SUM(A1:A5). - If the total goes past 24 hours, Excel starts again from zero (38:15 shows as 14:15). To avoid it, give the cell the custom format
[h]:mm. - To convert to decimal hours, multiply by 24:
=A6*24, because Excel stores times as fractions of a day.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert decimal hours to hours and minutes?
The whole number is the hours, and the decimal part times 60 is the minutes. For example, 7.75 hours is 7 hours and 0.75 × 60 = 45 minutes.
How many minutes is 2.5 hours?
2.5 × 60 = 150 minutes, which is 2 hours and 30 minutes.
How do I take a lunch break off my hours?
Subtract it from the time between clocking in and out. From 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM is 8 h 30 min; with a 45-minute break, that leaves 7 h 45 min, or 7.75 hours.
Tools in this guide
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