Time Duration Calculator — Hours Between Two Times
A shift that starts at 9:47 and ends at 4:23 is not 6.76 hours, and it is not 7 hours either. It is 6 hours 36 minutes, and this page does the conversion so you don’t have to. Enter a start time and an end time, and you get the gap in hours, minutes, and seconds, including overnight spans that cross midnight.
Enter your numbers
Result
The minute trick
Convert both times to minutes since midnight, then subtract. If the end time is earlier than the start time, the span crosses midnight, so 24 hours (1,440 minutes) are added to the end time. Duration = End minus Start (same day). Overnight duration = End + 24:00 minus Start. Decimal hours = Total minutes ÷ 60.
| Format | Example | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Hours : minutes | 6 h 36 min | Everyday reading: shifts, trips, cooking |
| Total minutes | 396 minutes | Adding blocks, comparing spans |
| Decimal hours | 6.6 hours | Timesheets, billing, payroll |
Hours and minutes is the human reading. Total minutes is best for adding spans together. Decimal hours is what timesheets and payroll usually want: 6.6 hours, not “6 hours 36 minutes.”
Three spans, three answers
Same day. From 9:47 AM to 4:23 PM: 9:47 AM is 587 minutes after midnight, and 4:23 PM is 983 minutes. 983 − 587 = 396 minutes. 396 ÷ 60 = 6 hours with 36 minutes left over. Result: 6 hours 36 minutes (396 minutes, 6.6 decimal hours).
Overnight. From 10:30 PM to 6:15 AM: 10:30 PM is 1,350 minutes, and 6:15 AM next day is 375 + 1,440 = 1,815 minutes. 1,815 − 1,350 = 465 minutes. Result: 7 hours 45 minutes (465 minutes, 7.75 decimal hours).
A shift with a break. 8:00 AM–12:00 PM (4 h) plus 1:00 PM–5:30 PM (4 h 30 min) = 8 hours 30 minutes of work, with the 1-hour lunch break excluded. For overnight spans, set the end datetime to the next day. Use the Block 2 start and end datetime fields to total a shift with breaks.
Decimal hours trip almost everyone up
Watch out for the classic mistake: 6 hours 36 minutes is 6.6 hours, but 6 hours 30 minutes is 6.5 hours. Minutes past the hour divide by 60; they are not a decimal fraction on their own.
Three more cautions. The calculator assumes both times are in the same time zone. Flights and calls across zones need the zone difference added separately. Daylight-saving changes can make one day 23 or 25 hours long, so spans crossing a clock change may be off by an hour. And breaks are not deducted automatically: add time blocks separately for shifts with unpaid breaks.
The usual uses are a work shift (9 to 5 with lunch), overnight sleep duration, adding durations as a sum of several blocks, and minutes to decimal hours conversion.
Questions
How do I calculate the time between two times?
Subtract the start time from the end time. If the end time is earlier (the span crosses midnight), add 24 hours to the end time first. The calculator above does both cases.
How do I handle a time span that crosses midnight?
Treat the end time as belonging to the next day. Add 24 hours to it, then subtract. From 10:30 PM to 6:15 AM that gives 7 hours 45 minutes.
What is 6 hours 36 minutes in decimal hours?
6.6 hours. Divide the minutes by 60 (36 ÷ 60 = 0.6) and add the hours: 6 + 0.6 = 6.6.
Can I add two durations together?
Yes. Enter the second span in the Block 2 start and end datetime fields. Add each span in minutes, then convert back to hours and minutes. A 4-hour morning plus a 4-hour-30-minute afternoon is 8 hours 30 minutes.
Other pages that pair with this one
Adding days to a date is the Date Calculator. Counting the gap between two dates is the Days Between Dates Calculator. Average speed from distance and time is the Speed Calculator, and exact age from a date of birth is the Age Calculator. All Everyday Calculators · All Calculators