Google Sheets Time Functions Explained: TIME, TIMEVALUE, HOUR, MINUTE, and SECOND

Mastering time management in your spreadsheets? Google Sheets provides a suite of time functions – TIME, TIMEVALUE, HOUR, MINUTE, and SECOND – that are essential for anyone needing to manipulate and analyze time data accurately. These functions allow you to construct time values from scratch, break down time components for detailed analysis, and seamlessly convert text to time formats.

Ideal for tasks ranging from logging work hours to calculating intervals between events, this guide will delve into each function, demonstrating their usage and enhancing your ability to automate and refine time-related data in Google Sheets. In this article, we’ll explore how to use each function effectively.

The TIME function in Google Sheets is essential for creating precise time values by specifying hours, minutes, and seconds. It’s especially useful in scenarios where you need to manage, track, or calculate time, such as logging work hours, scheduling tasks, or organizing events.By converting these components into a standard time format, it ensures accuracy in time-based calculations and helps maintain consistency in data entry. The TIME function simplifies handling time across different datasets, making it an indispensable tool for time management.

In this section, we’ll provide a comprehensive overview of the key time functions in Google Sheets, including TIME, TIMEVALUE, HOUR, MINUTE, and SECOND. Understanding these functions is crucial for anyone working with time data, as they allow you to manipulate and format time values efficiently. We will cover the syntax and provide practical examples for each function, demonstrating how to create, extract, and calculate time values in Google Sheets. Whether you're tracking hours, converting time values, or analyzing time-based data, these functions will make managing time easy and precise.

The TIME function in Google Sheets is used to create a time value based on specified hours, minutes, and seconds. It converts these components into a serial number that represents the time within a 24-hour period.

The function is especially useful when dealing with time-related calculations, such as determining the time duration between two events, scheduling, or adding/subtracting time values.

The TIME function requires three arguments: hours, minutes, and seconds, and it helps in simplifying time management tasks within spreadsheets.

Let's break it down:

• hour: A number from 0 to 23 representing the hour.
• minute: A number from 0 to 59 representing the minute.
• second: A number from 0 to 59 representing the second.

Suppose we need to determine the specific time of day based on the hours, minutes, and seconds for each Disneyland attraction.

Let's apply the formula:

It takes the values from columns C (Hours), D (Minutes), and E (Seconds) to construct a time in the format of hh:mm:ss.

TIME function also automatically adjusts any invalid time values. For instance, entering TIME(25,0,0) will convert 25 hours into 1:00 AM, and TIME(12,0,60) will adjust the 60th second into 12:01:00, ensuring time values remain within valid ranges.

The TIMEVALUE function in Google Sheets converts a time represented as text into a decimal value, which represents the fraction of a 24-hour day. This is helpful when you need to calculate or compare time values.

The syntax for the TIMEVALUE function in Google Sheets is:

Let's explain:

• time_string: The string that holds the time representation.

Let's say we want to find out the TIMEVALUE of the opening times of various Disneyland attractions. 

Let's use the formula:

Here's the breakdown:

• C3: Time when the attraction opens.

By using this approach, you can get the exact decimal representation of any attraction’s opening time.

The HOUR function in Google Sheets extracts the hour from a given time value, returning an integer between 0 and 23. It is useful when working with time data and helps to break down time values into individual components for further analysis.

The syntax for the HOUR function in Google Sheets is:

Here's the explanation:

• time: The time value from which the hour will be extracted. This can be a time string or a reference to a cell containing a time.

Let's say we aim to determine the exact closing hour of the listed attractions based on the closing times. The HOUR function will help us retrieve just the hour portion of the time for each attraction's closing time.

Let's apply the formula:

Here's the breakdown:

• D3: Time when the attraction closes.

This formula extracts the hour value from the time in the Close column for each attraction.

The MINUTE function in Google Sheets extracts the minute component from a given time value. It is useful for time-related calculations where you need to focus on minutes within a specific time, such as when analyzing event schedules or calculating time differences. The function returns an integer between 0 and 59.

The syntax for the MINUTE function in Google Sheets is:

Here's the breakdown:

• time: The cell reference containing the time value from which we want to extract the minute.

Let's say we need to determine the exact minute when the listed Disneyland attractions open based on their opening times. The MINUTE function will help us retrieve just the minute portion of the time for each attraction's opening time.

Let’s apply the formula:

Here's the breakdown:

• C3: Time when the attraction opens.

This formula extracts the minute value from the time in the Open column for each attraction.

The SECOND function in Google Sheets extracts the seconds from a time value. It is useful when you need to work with time data at a more precise level, such as analyzing or tracking events based on seconds. This function helps break down time into finer components.

The syntax for the SECOND function in Google Sheets is:

Here's the breakdown:

• time: The cell reference containing the time value from which we want to extract the second.

Let's say we want to extract the seconds from the "Best Duration" data for each Disneyland attraction.

Let's apply:

Break it down:

• D3: Refers to the "Best Duration" for each attraction.

The SECOND function allows us to retrieve the seconds portion of the time duration for each attraction.

This section explores essential techniques for time management in Google Sheets. You'll learn how to add and subtract time, handle hours, minutes, and seconds, calculate durations, and work with different time formats using TIMEVALUE, HOUR, MINUTE, and SECOND functions. Plus, discover how to apply conditional formatting and precisely calculate time durations.

Adding or subtracting time in Google Sheets is essential for calculating durations, scheduling, and managing time-based data. By adding or subtracting time, you can determine the difference between opening and closing hours, total time spent on tasks, or even time remaining.

Let's suppose we want to calculate the total duration each Disneyland attraction operates. By subtracting the opening time from the closing time, we can determine the duration of working hours for each attraction.

Let's apply the formula:

Here's the breakdown:

• C3: Opening time of the attraction.
• D3: Closing time of the attraction.

Let's say we want to add 2 hours to the closing time for cleaning:

Here’s the breakdown:

• D3: Original closing time.
• TIME(2,0,0): Adds 2 hours, 0 minutes, and 0 seconds.

After calculating time, you can change the time format by selecting the cell, and then navigating to Format > Number > Time to display the result in your preferred time format, such as "hh:mm" or "AM/PM".

Google Sheets allows users to manipulate time data by adding or subtracting hours, minutes, or seconds. This is useful when calculating total work hours, scheduling breaks, or managing precise timing.

Let's suppose we want to manipulate the operating times of Disneyland attractions by adjusting their opening times using hours, minutes, and seconds.

Suppose we want to add 3 hours to the opening time of Mickey's Parade:

Here's the breakdown:

• C3: Original opening time.
• TIME(3,0,0): Adds 3 hours, 0 minutes, and 0 seconds.

Next, we subtract 45 minutes from the opening time of Pirates of the Caribbean Ride:

Let's break it down:

• C4: Original opening time.
• TIME(0, 45, 0): Subtracts 45 minutes, 0 hours, and 0 seconds.

Finally, let's add 300 seconds (or 5 minutes) to the opening time of Space Mountain:

Let's explain:

• C5: Original opening time.
• TIME(0, 0, 30): Adds 30 seconds, 0 hours, and 0 minutes.

Once you've adjusted the time values, you can modify the display format by selecting the result cells and navigating to Format > Number > Time to choose between formats like "hh:mm" or "AM/PM" for better readability.

In certain cases, you may need to calculate time duration over an extended period or break it down into smaller units. Multiplying or dividing time can help you estimate weekly durations, divide time shifts, or calculate recurring events.

Let's suppose we want to calculate the total working time for each Disneyland attraction over a week (6 working days) and then account for 30-minute technical assistance shifts during each working day.

To find the total operating time for each attraction over 6 days (assuming one non-working day), we can multiply the daily duration by 6.

Let's use the formula:

Let's explain:

• E3: The cell containing the daily time duration (hours and minutes).
• 6: Multiplies the daily duration for the number of working days in a week.

Now, we will divide the daily duration by a 30-minute shift (for technical assistance) to see how many shifts would fit within the working time.

Here's the breakdown:

• E3: The cell containing the daily time duration.
• TIME(0, 30, 0): Represents 30 minutes in the TIME function.
• "0.0": The pattern used to format the number in quotation marks.

This approach helps us understand both the total weekly duration for each attraction and how time is allocated for maintenance or assistance purposes during each workday.

The TIME function in Google Sheets allows users to create specific time values from individual hour, minute, and second components, including decimal values. This is especially helpful for scheduling fractional time blocks or when rounding times to decimal places is required.

Let's suppose we have the working hours of Disneyland attractions, but instead of whole numbers, we have decimal values representing partial hours (for instance, 7.5 hours representing 7 hours and 30 minutes). We want to use the TIME function to convert these decimal values into hours, minutes, and seconds.

We can use the TIME function combined with INT() and MOD() functions to extract the hours, minutes, and seconds from the decimal hours:

Here's the breakdown:

• INT(B3): Extracts the integer part of the decimal value in B3, which represents hours.
• MOD(E3 * 60, 60): Extracts the fractional part, multiplied by 60, to convert it into minutes.
• 0: Represents the seconds part (we're assuming no seconds in this case).

This method effectively converts decimal time values into a readable time format (hours and minutes).

The TIMEVALUE function converts a time string into a decimal that represents the portion of the day the time corresponds to. This conversion is useful for standardizing different time formats or calculating elapsed time in decimal form.

Imagine we have a list of Disneyland attractions with their opening times listed in various formats, such as "13:00", "9:30 AM", and "10/29/2024 9:30 AM".

Our goal is to convert these different formats into a consistent numerical value using the formula:

Let's explain:

• TIMEVALUE(C3): This formula converts the time found in cell C3 into its corresponding decimal value, representing the time as a fraction of a day.

No matter the time format, the TIMEVALUE function returns a consistent result for each attraction, ensuring uniformity.

This method makes it easier to perform further calculations, such as calculating time differences or making comparisons across various time formats. By converting all-time data into a standardized numeric value, you maintain accuracy and flexibility in your data analysis.

The TIMEVALUE function is helpful when you need to calculate the time elapsed between two specific dates and times. This function converts time strings into decimals representing a fraction of the day, allowing for easier calculation of time differences.

Let's say we have two time values for the opening and closing times of different attractions, and we want to determine how much time has passed between them.

We'll use the TIMEVALUE function to convert the time into decimals and then calculate the difference:

In this formula:

• C3: represents the start time (opening time).
• D3: represents the end time (closing time).

By using TIMEVALUE, the times are converted into their decimal equivalents, making it easier to subtract and get the time difference. This method is ideal for calculating time intervals or determining how long certain activities or tasks took, based purely on the time components.

The HOUR function is ideal when you need to extract the hour component from a time value for easier calculations or comparisons. When working with duration calculations, this function allows you to focus specifically on the hour part of a time, ignoring minutes and seconds.

Let’s say we want to determine how many hours different Disneyland attractions are open during the day.

Use the formula:

In this formula:

• C3: represents the start time (opening time).
• D3: represents the end time (closing time).

By extracting the hour from both values, we can calculate the total number of hours each attraction is open.

Tracking the break durations is important for maintaining operational efficiency, and we can easily calculate the duration using the MINUTE function in Google Sheets.

Let’s say you are tracking the break times of various Disneyland attractions. Each break has a "start" time when the attraction stops and a "resume" time when the attraction starts operating again. We want to calculate the break duration in minutes to keep track of how long each attraction is paused.

Apply the formula:

In this formula:

• MINUTE(C3): Extracts the minute portion from the "Break in" time.
• MINUTE(D3): Extracts the minute portion from the "Resume at" time.

The formula calculates the difference between the two times, giving the total duration of the break in minutes.

This approach ensures that you have an accurate calculation of how long each attraction was on break. If the break spans over different hours, additional calculations will be needed to account for the hour difference.

Using the SECOND function in Google Sheets, we can apply conditional formatting to quickly identify specific moments based on the seconds portion of a time, making it easier to spot trends or patterns.

Let’s suppose we are tracking malfunctions in a Disneyland attraction, and we want to highlight all instances when the malfunction occurred within the first 20 seconds of any given minute. We can get this by using the SECOND function combined with conditional formatting to automatically highlight these cases.

Steps:

• Select the range of cells containing the malfunction times (in this case, column D).
• Open Conditional Formatting: Go to Format > Conditional Formatting.
• Apply a custom formula:

This formula checks whether the seconds in each malfunction time are less than 20.

• Set a formatting style: Choose the background color or other formatting you want to apply to these cells.
• Click Done to apply the rule.

Now, all malfunctions occurring in the first 20 seconds of any minute will be highlighted, making it easy to identify the exact moments of concern.

This explanation gives a step-by-step guide on how conditional formatting works using the SECOND function for a specific case related to malfunction occurrences.

Mastering advanced techniques with time-related functions in Google Sheets can significantly enhance your time management and analysis. This section covers handling hours over 24, exceeding minutes or seconds, calculating intervals, and more, helping you streamline tasks and track performance effectively with precision.

In Google Sheets, the TIME function is useful for creating time values, but it operates within a 24-hour format. However, when dealing with durations greater than 24 hours, the function can still handle the calculations effectively by rolling over the extra hours into days.

Let’s say we want to define the time of day when the number of hours exceeds 24. When the hour value goes beyond 24, the TIME function resets it back to 0 and displays the corresponding time. For example, TIME(26,0,0) would create a time of "02:00:00" (as the function rolls 26 hours into 1 day + 2 hours).

If we want to keep track of how many full days have passed, we can add another column to calculate the number of days.

Let’s look at the formulas for calculating the time and day.

Time:

Day Count:

The INT function returns the integer part of a number, effectively removing any decimals. In this context, it tells us how many full days have passed based on the total hours.

This way, we know how many days and the specific time within the last day. For instance, for an attraction with 38 hours to start operating, the formula will return "1" day and show the remaining time as 2:30 PM.

In some cases, you might want to specify a time when the number of minutes or seconds exceeds 60. The TIME function automatically adjusts the values by converting the excess minutes or seconds into hours or minutes, respectively.

This means if you input 75 minutes, the TIME function will automatically add 1 hour and set the remaining 15 minutes. Similarly, if you input 90 seconds, the function will add 1 minute and leave 30 seconds.

Let’s apply this concept to a table of Disneyland attractions, assuming some attractions have time values exceeding 60 minutes or 60 seconds.

The formula for calculating the adjusted time would look like this:

This is how the TIME function efficiently manages values that exceed normal ranges of minutes and seconds, automatically setting them to the correct time.

When calculating time intervals between two events, the TIME function can help you break down the hours, minutes, and seconds into a usable format. It’s particularly useful when you need to know the difference between a starting and an ending time.

Formula to use:

Here's the breakdown:

• C3: represents the opening time of the attraction (e.g., 10:15 AM).
• D3: represents the duration of the attraction (e.g., 0:45 hours).

The formula adds the hours, minutes, and seconds of the opening time and duration to calculate the closing time.

Calculating the total time worked is an essential task in scheduling and time tracking. By using the TIMEVALUE function, you can easily compute the total time worked based on the start and end times. In this example, we will calculate the total work duration for each attraction based on the Open and Close times.

Let's apply:

Here’s the breakdown:

• C3 represents the opening time (e.g., 9:00 AM).
• D3 represents the closing time (e.g., 5:00 PM).

The TIMEVALUE function converts the text-based time into a numerical value, allowing for calculations. The formula subtracts the opening time from the closing time to compute the total hours worked.

To display the calculated duration in a readable format, follow these steps:

• Select the cells containing the formula results.
• Go to Format in the toolbar, then choose Number.
• Select Duration to ensure that the time is displayed as hours and minutes (e.g., 9:30).

By applying the TIMEVALUE function and formatting the result as a duration, you can accurately track the total time worked for each task or event. This method helps improve efficiency and ensures precise time management.

Sometimes, time values include milliseconds, which need to be converted into a decimal value for easier analysis or calculation. Google Sheets does not have a direct function to handle milliseconds, but by splitting the time string into hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds, you can perform the conversion manually.

Let’s say we have a list of attractions with their best durations, including hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds. Our goal is to convert these times into a decimal value that can be used for calculations.

Formula to use:

Here's the explanation:

• HOUR(D3): Extracts the hours from the time.
• MINUTE(D3)/60: Converts minutes to a fraction of an hour.
• SECOND(D3)/3600: Converts seconds to a fraction of an hour.
• MID(TEXT(D3, "h:mm.000"), 10, 3): Extracts the milliseconds and divides it by 3600 to represent the milliseconds as part of the hour.

This method ensures that even milliseconds are accurately accounted for when converting to decimal values. You can apply similar logic to other time values in your data.

Tracking response times using the MINUTE function helps monitor how quickly tasks or inquiries are being handled by extracting the minute portion from a timestamp.

Let’s suppose you have a table of attractions with the inquiry times and the corresponding response times logged.

Apply the following formula to calculate the difference between the minutes of the response time and the inquiry time:

Here's the explanation:

• D3: Timestamp of the inquiry.
• E3: Timestamp of the response.

This formula subtracts the minute portion of the inquiry timestamp (column D) from the minute portion of the response timestamp (column E). This allows you to track how quickly each inquiry was responded to, based on the minute portion of the time.

When tracking time-sensitive events like ticket sales or malfunctions for an attraction, it’s useful to understand the frequency of these events down to the second. Suppose you’re monitoring the "Haunted Mansion" at Disneyland, where each recorded malfunction comes with a timestamp. In this example, column D contains these timestamps.

We aim to extract the second from each timestamp and analyze how frequently each specific second occurs, helping you pinpoint when events cluster or happen repeatedly. Let’s explore how to do it using the SECOND and TEXT functions with the COUNTIF formula.

Apply the following formula:

Here's the explanation:

• TEXT(D$3:D$12, "ss"): Converts the timestamps in column D to their second values in a "ss" format.
• SECOND(D3): Extracts the second value of the current row's timestamp.
• TEXT(SECOND(D3), "00"): Ensures the extracted second is in the "00" format, matching the range format for comparison.
• COUNTIF: Counts how many times the extracted second occurs in the entire column.

By using ARRAYFORMULA in combination with SECOND and COUNTIF, we efficiently analyze the frequency of specific seconds across a dataset.

This is quite useful when you need to identify patterns, such as frequent malfunctions occurring at precise moments, enabling you to react or adjust operations accordingly. The result reveals how many times a specific second value repeats across the range.

This method standardizes the analysis process, making it straightforward to detect patterns in time data for any tracked events.

When working with time functions in Google Sheets, such as TIME, TIMEVALUE, HOUR, MINUTE, and SECOND, it’s easy to encounter common errors that can disrupt your calculations. These errors usually arise from incompatible time formats, incorrect data inputs, or calculation mistakes. Knowing how to identify and resolve these issues will help ensure your time-based computations are accurate and seamless.

⚠️ Error: The #VALUE! error occurs in functions like TIME, TIMEVALUE, or HOUR when they encounter invalid inputs or incompatible data types, such as text instead of time values. It also triggers when incorrect formatting or non-time data is used in calculations.

✅ Solution: Ensure that all referenced cells are formatted as valid time values. Use the TIMEVALUE function to convert text strings into proper time values. Double-check that the cells contain actual time data and not text.

⚠️ Error: The #NUM! error arises in time functions like TIME, HOUR, or MINUTE when numeric values fall outside acceptable ranges, such as entering more than 23 for the hour or exceeding 59 for minutes or seconds.

✅ Solution: Verify that the numeric inputs fall within the valid range for time-related values (hours: 0–23, minutes and seconds: 0–59). Adjust any out-of-range values in your calculations.

⚠️ Error: The #REF! error occurs when time functions like TIMEVALUE or HOUR reference invalid or deleted cell ranges, resulting in a broken calculation.

✅ Solution: Check your formulas to ensure all cell references are intact and point to valid time data ranges. If the referenced cell has been deleted, update the formula with the correct range.

⚠️ Error: The #ERROR! message shows up when Google Sheets cannot interpret the formula, often due to incorrect syntax or missing required arguments in time functions like TIME or TIMEVALUE.

✅ Solution: Review your formula for proper syntax and make sure all required arguments are present. Ensure functions like TIME or TIMEVALUE are correctly structured and referencing appropriate time values.

⚠️ Error: This issue arises when there’s a mismatch between the displayed time format and the actual data used in the function, leading to miscalculations in functions like TIMEVALUE or DURATION.

✅ Solution: Ensure that the time format applied to the cells matches the format used in your calculations. Adjust the time format by going to the Format menu and selecting the appropriate time display option (e.g., 12-hour or 24-hour).

Mastering time data management in Google Sheets requires knowing how to effectively use time functions like TIME, TIMEVALUE, and HOUR. By following best practices, you can avoid common errors, enhance accuracy, and create more efficient workflows for managing time-related data in your projects.

Always ensure that your cells are formatted correctly as time values. Misformatted cells can result in errors or incorrect calculations for TIME, TIMEVALUE, HOUR, MINUTE, SECOND functions.

Go to the Format menu and select the appropriate time format to guarantee that your time functions work as expected without any inconsistencies.

Instead of entering hard-coded times directly into formulas, reference cells that store time values. This allows for easier adjustments and ensures that your formulas with TIME, TIMEVALUE, SECOND functions etc. remain dynamic. If the data changes, your calculations will automatically update without needing manual modifications.

Maximize your results by combining time functions like TIME, HOUR, MINUTE, SECOND with other functions like IF, AVERAGE, or SUM. For example, combining TIMEVALUE with IF can create custom time calculations based on different conditions, allowing you to handle complex time-based workflows and scenarios with ease.

When working with time data across regions, ensure that your time calculations account for time zone differences. You can use the TEXT or TIMEVALUE functions to adjust time values to the appropriate time zone, minimizing the risk of errors in time-sensitive calculations with HOUR or SECOND.

You can leverage conditional formatting to highlight time-related cells that meet certain criteria.

For example, you can automatically color-code times based on whether they are within or outside specific ranges, allowing for better visualization and faster interpretation of key time data, like in our MINUTE function conditional formatting example.

When using the TIMEVALUE function, ensure the text strings you're converting into time values are correctly formatted. Invalid or improperly formatted time strings will trigger errors. Double-check the structure and consistency of the strings to ensure accurate conversions and smooth calculations.

Use Google Sheets' advanced functions to unlock deeper data insights. These tools support efficient handling of large datasets, automate tasks, and empower you to drive meaningful data-driven conclusions.

• DATE Functions: Creates dates, extracts components, or converts dates to numbers, essential for date-based analysis.

• DAY/DAYS/DAYS360: Extracts the day, calculates days between dates, or uses a 360-day calendar, great for tracking intervals.

• NOW/TODAY: Dynamically provides the current date or date and time for real-time tracking.

• WORKDAY/NETWORKDAYS: Calculates workdays for project timelines.

• ARRAYFORMULA: Applies a formula across a range, automating repetitive calculations across rows or columns.

• IMPORTRANGE: : Imports data from other sheets.

• PIVOT:: Summarizes and visualizes data with pivot tables.

With the OWOX: Reports, Charts and Pivots extension, you can seamlessly import BigQuery data straight into Google Sheets. Say goodbye to manual data transfers and import hassles. This powerful tool equips you with everything you need to manage numbers efficiently and make data-driven decisions with ease!