How to calculate the time difference in minutes in Excel
Formula (Excel and Google Sheets)
=(C2-B2)*1440Multiply the difference by the 1,440 minutes in a day: =(C2-B2)*1440.
- Result on the example
- one result per row in
D2, filled down toD7 - Works in
- Every current version
- Google Sheets
- Same formula
See it work
The formula is already in D2, filled down to D7. Change any input and the result updates, or edit the formula to experiment.
How it works
A day has 1,440 minutes (24 × 60), and a time difference is a fraction of a day, so multiplying by 1440 converts it to minutes: 9:02 to 9:17 is 15 minutes.
=(C2-B2)*1440Result15
C29:17 AMThe value in C2.
B29:02 AMThe value in B2.
C2-B20.01041666667The - operator subtracts.
C2-B2)*144015The * operator multiplies.
In Google Sheets
The same formula works in Google Sheets: =(C2-B2)*1440. 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.
| Formula | Result | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| =ROUND((C2-B2)*1440,0) | 15, 42, 6…Different result | Whole minutes. It also removes floating-point remainders, so 15 never shows as 14.9999999. Rounds to whole minutes when the times include seconds. |
| =(C2-B2)*86400 | 900, 2520, 360…Different result | Seconds instead of minutes. Seconds. |
Common mistakes
- Time arithmetic can give 14.9999999 instead of 15. Wrap it in ROUND before comparing or using INT.
- For calls that run past midnight, use
MOD(C2-B2,1)*1440.
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 the time difference in minutes
D2, calculate the length of each call in minutes, and fill down to D7.Questions
How do I get seconds?
Multiply by 86,400: =(C2-B2)*86400.
How do I total the minutes?
=SUM(D2:D7), or straight from the times: =SUM(C2:C7-B2:B7)*1440.
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.