Spreadsheet Practice

How to calculate hours between two dates and times in Excel

Formula (Excel and Google Sheets)

=(C2-B2)*24

Subtract the two date-times and multiply by 24: =(C2-B2)*24. It works across midnight and across several days.

Result on the example
one result per row in D2, filled down to D6
Works in
Every current version
Google Sheets
Same formula

See it work

The formula is already in D2, filled down to D6. Change any input and the result updates, or edit the formula to experiment.

How it works

A date-time is a date number plus a time fraction, so subtracting two of them gives days with a fraction, even across midnight or several days. Multiplying by 24 gives hours: March 2 at 2:00 PM to March 4 at 10:30 AM is 1.85 days, or 44.5 hours.

=(C2-B2)*24

Result7.5

  1. C23/2/2026 16:45

    The value in C2.

  2. B23/2/2026 9:15

    The value in B2.

  3. C2-B20.3125

    The - operator subtracts.

  4. C2-B2)*247.5

    The * operator multiplies.

In Google Sheets

The same formula works in Google Sheets: =(C2-B2)*24. We ran it in Google Sheets mode on the same data and it returns the same results.

Other ways to do it

Each one was run on the same example sheet.

FormulaResultWhen to use it
=ROUND((C2-B2)*24,2)7.50, 44.50, 3.50…Rounded to two decimals, which removes floating-point noise.
=INT(C2-B2)&" days "&TEXT(C2-B2,"h:mm")0 days 7:30, 1 days 20:30, 0 days 3:30…Different resultDays plus hours and minutes, like 1 days 20:30. Text in days and h:mm.

Common mistakes

  • If the dates and times are in separate columns, add each pair first: =((D2+E2)-(B2+C2))*24.
  • Text timestamps can't be subtracted. Convert them with DATEVALUE and TIMEVALUE.

Try it yourself

Same data, empty answer cell. Your formula is graded instantly, then re-checked on changed data, so a typed-in number won't pass.

Calculate hours between two dates and times

In D2, calculate the hours from opened to resolved, and fill down to D6.

Questions

How do I count business hours only?

Use NETWORKDAYS with MEDIAN to trim each end to opening hours; see the working-hours formula.

How do I show the result as days, hours and minutes?

=INT(C2-B2)&"d "&TEXT(C2-B2,"h""h ""m""m""") gives 1d 20h 30m.

Checked by running on 2026-10-30: every formula and result on this page was calculated by the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine, in both Excel and Google Sheets modes.