Dates function

Excel TIME function

Q: How do I add hours to a time in Excel?

=A2+TIME(3,0,0) adds three hours. =A2+3/24 does the same.

Q: How do I combine a date and a time in Excel?

Add them: =A2+B2 when both are real values, or =DATE(2026,10,5)+TIME(18,15,0). Format the result as m/d/yyyy h:mm.

Q: How do I convert minutes to hours and minutes in Excel?

=TIME(0,A2,0) turns 135 minutes into 2:15. For totals of 24 hours or more, use =A2/1440 with the [h]:mm format.

TIME builds a time of day from an hour, a minute and a second. =TIME(14,30,0) is 2:30 PM, stored as 0.604, the fraction of a day. Use it to put a time together from separate columns or to add hours and minutes to a start time.

=TIME(hour, minute, second)

Arguments

hour: The hour, 0 to 23. Larger values wrap around the clock: 25 is 1 AM.
minute: The minutes. Values over 59 roll into hours, so TIME(0,90,0) is 1:30.
second: The seconds. Values over 59 roll into minutes.

TIME examples

Every result below was calculated from this sample sheet by the same spreadsheet engine the Cellwise app uses.

	A	B	C	D
1	Class	Hour	Minute	Length (min)
2	Spin	6	30	45
3	Yoga	18	15	60
4	HIIT	12	0	30

Download this sheet as an Excel practice file (.xlsx)

=TIME(B2,C2,0)
Result: 6:30 AM
Builds the Spin start time from the hour and minute columns: 6:30 AM.
=TIME(B3,C3+D3,0)
Result: 7:15 PM
Adds the 60-minute class length. Minutes over 59 roll into the hour, so Yoga ends at 7:15 PM.
=TIME(25,0,0)
Result: 1:00 AM
Hours past 23 wrap around the clock: 25 hours is 1:00 AM, not a duration of 25 hours.
=TIME(B4,C4,0)*24
Result: 12
Multiply a time by 24 to get hours as a plain number: noon is 12.

How to use TIME

Click the cell for the result.
Type =TIME( then the hour, minute and second, separated by commas.
Press Enter. Excel formats the cell as a time.
To add time to an existing time, use =A2+TIME(1,30,0).

Common TIME mistakes

Using TIME for totals over 24 hours

TIME wraps every 24 hours, so TIME(30,0,0) is 6:00 AM. For a 30-hour total use =30/24 and the custom format [h]:mm.

Seeing a decimal like 0.27

That is the time as a fraction of a day. Format the cell as a time.

#NUM! from a negative time

TIME returns #NUM! when the total is below zero, such as TIME(0,-30,0). Check the inputs, or use MOD(...,1) on a time subtraction so it wraps past midnight.

TIME FAQ

How do I add hours to a time in Excel?

=A2+TIME(3,0,0) adds three hours. =A2+3/24 does the same.

How do I combine a date and a time in Excel?

Add them: =A2+B2 when both are real values, or =DATE(2026,10,5)+TIME(18,15,0). Format the result as m/d/yyyy h:mm.

How do I convert minutes to hours and minutes in Excel?

=TIME(0,A2,0) turns 135 minutes into 2:15. For totals of 24 hours or more, use =A2/1440 with the [h]:mm format.

Related functions

Updated November 3, 2026