# How to calculate the average time in Excel

Use AVERAGE and format the result as a time: `=AVERAGE(B2:B8)`.

**Excel:** `=AVERAGE(B2:B8)` (Every current version)

**Google Sheets:** the same formula works.

## Example

Sample data (row 1 is the header):

| A | B | C | D |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Date | Arrival |  | Average arrival |
| 2026-03-02 | 0.36944444444444446 |  |  |
| 2026-03-03 | 0.3784722222222222 |  |  |
| 2026-03-04 | 0.3659722222222222 |  |  |
| 2026-03-05 | 0.38472222222222224 |  |  |
| 2026-03-06 | 0.3736111111111111 |  |  |
| 2026-03-09 | 0.37569444444444444 |  |  |
| 2026-03-10 | 0.36041666666666666 |  |  |

Formula in E1: `=AVERAGE(B2:B8)`

Result: 8:56 AM

## How it works

Times are fractions of a day, so AVERAGE works on them like on any other numbers. The result is a fraction too, and formatted as a time it shows the average arrival: 8:56 AM.

## Other ways

- `=SUM(B2:B8)/COUNT(B2:B8)`: The same, spelled out.
- `=TEXT(AVERAGE(B2:B8),"h:mm AM/PM")`: As text. (Text.)

## Common mistakes

- Times either side of midnight average badly: 11:00 PM and 1:00 AM average to noon. Add 1 to the after-midnight times before averaging.
- Times stored as text are skipped. Convert them with TIMEVALUE.

## Questions

**How do I average durations, like call lengths?**

The same AVERAGE works; format the result as h:mm:ss or mm:ss.

**How do I average times with a condition?**

`=AVERAGEIFS(B2:B8,A2:A8,">="&start_date)`.

Every formula and result on this page was checked by running it in the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine on 2026-10-30.

Source: https://spreadsheetpractice.com/formulas/average-time