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Excel guide · 3 min read

Convert minutes to hours and minutes in Excel

Quick answerDivide by 60 for decimal hours: =B2/60 turns 95 minutes into 1.58 hours. For hours and minutes, divide by 1440 (the minutes in a day) and format the cell as [h]:mm: =B2/1440 shows 1:35.

Sample data

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

ABC
1TaskMinutesLogged as time
2Client call951:35
3Design review450:45
4Site visit1302:10
5Report writing2103:30
6Email triage80:08
7Workshop4808:00
8Data cleanup60010:00

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

Decimal hours: divide by 60

Decimal hours are what you multiply by an hourly rate or put in a chart. 95 minutes is 95/60 = 1.5833 hours. Round to 2 decimals with ROUND so invoices do not show long tails.

Do not read 1.58 as "1 hour 58 minutes". The part after the point is a fraction of an hour: 0.58 hours is about 35 minutes. Mixing up the two is the most common time-sheet error.

=ROUND(B2/60,2)

Result: 1.58

1.58 hours for the 95-minute client call.

Hours and minutes: divide by 1440 and format

Excel stores time as a fraction of a day, and a day has 24 x 60 = 1440 minutes. So 95/1440 is the time value for 1 hour 35 minutes. The cell holds a number that you can still add and subtract, and the format controls how it looks.

Apply the format with Ctrl+1 > Number > Custom and type [h]:mm. The square brackets let the hours go past 24. Without them, 1,500 minutes would show as 1:00 instead of 25:00.

=B2/1440

Result: 0.065972222222 shows as 1:35 with the custom [h]:mm format

0.066, the time value for 95 minutes, which displays as 1:35 with the [h]:mm format.

A readable "2 h 10 min" label

INT(B4/60) gives the whole hours and MOD(B4,60) the minutes left over. Join them with & and a few words for a label in a report or an email.

The result is text, so you cannot sum it. Keep the minutes or decimal hours in another column for the maths, and use the label only for display. For a label with leading zeros, such as 2:05, use =TEXT(B4/1440,"[h]:mm") instead.

=INT(B4/60)&" h "&MOD(B4,60)&" min"

Result: 2 h 10 min

2 h 10 min for the 130-minute site visit.

Total a column of minutes past 24 hours

Sum the minutes first, then convert once. The seven tasks add up to 1,568 minutes. Divided by 60 that is 26.13 decimal hours. Divided by 1440 and shown with [h]:mm it is 26:08.

With the ordinary h:mm format the same total shows as 2:08, because Excel drops the full day. If a weekly total looks far too small, check for missing square brackets first.

=TEXT(SUM(B2:B8)/1440,"[h]:mm")

Result: 26:08

26:08, that is 26 hours 8 minutes across all seven tasks. With "h:mm" instead it would show 2:08.

Going the other way: hours and minutes to minutes

If your data already holds real times like 1:35 (column C), multiply by 1440 to get minutes or by 24 to get decimal hours. Format the result cell as General or Number, or Excel may display it as a time.

Watch out when typing durations: Excel reads 35:20 as 35 hours 20 minutes, not 35 minutes 20 seconds. Type 0:35:20 for minutes and seconds.

=C2*1440

Result: 95

95 minutes from the time 1:35. =C2*24 gives 1.58 hours.

Round to the nearest quarter hour

Billing often rounds to 15-minute blocks. Divide the minutes by 15, round, multiply back by 15 and divide by 60 for hours. Use ROUNDUP instead of ROUND to always bill the next block: 8 minutes of email triage then becomes 15.

Excel also has MROUND for the nearest multiple: =MROUND(B2,15)/60 gives the same 1.5. And =CONVERT(B2,"mn","hr") is another way to get unrounded decimal hours, the same as =B2/60.

=ROUND(B2/15,0)*15/60

Result: 1.5

1.5 hours: 95 minutes rounds to 90, the nearest quarter hour.

Common mistakes

Reading 1.58 hours as 1 hour 58 minutes

Decimal hours are fractions of an hour. Use =B2/1440 with [h]:mm when people need to read hours and minutes.

A total of 26 hours shows as 2:08

Use the custom format [h]:mm. The brackets stop the hours resetting at 24.

The result shows as a time like 0:00 or a date

The result cell inherited a time format. Set it to General or Number with Ctrl+1.

Summing the "2 h 10 min" labels

They are text. Sum the original minutes, then convert the total.

FAQ

How do I convert minutes to hours in Excel?

For decimal hours use =A2/60. For hours and minutes use =A2/1440 and format the cell as [h]:mm (Ctrl+1 > Custom).

Why divide by 1440 in Excel?

Excel measures time in days, and one day has 1440 minutes. Dividing minutes by 1440 turns them into the fraction of a day that Excel can format as h:mm.

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

If the cell holds a real time like 1:35, multiply by 24: =A2*24 gives 1.58. Set the result cell to Number format.

How do I show more than 24 hours in Excel?

Use the custom number format [h]:mm. The square brackets show elapsed hours, so 1,568 minutes displays as 26:08.

Functions used

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