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Hours Between Times Calculator

Q: How do I enter a PM time?

Use the 24-hour clock: 5:45 PM is 17:45, 12:30 AM is 00:30, and noon is 12:00. That removes any AM/PM ambiguity.

Q: Does it handle overnight shifts?

Yes. If the end time is earlier on the clock than the start, the calculator adds 24 hours, so a 22:00 start and 06:00 end reads as 8 hours, not a negative span.

Q: Why show decimal hours?

Payroll multiplies the hourly rate by decimal hours, where 45 minutes is 0.75, not 0.45. The decimal row saves you the conversion.

Find the hours and minutes between two clock times, minus any unpaid break — overnight shifts included.

Start time (HH:MM)

End time (HH:MM)

Unpaid break

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How it works

span = end − start (if end < start, add 24 h) · worked = span − unpaid break

Both times become minutes since midnight and are subtracted. When the end time reads earlier than the start, the shift is assumed to cross midnight, so 24 hours are added instead of returning a negative number. The unpaid break is then removed, and the result is shown both as hours-and-minutes and as decimal hours, which is what payroll multiplies by the hourly rate.

Worked example

A 09:30 start and 17:45 finish is 8 hours 15 minutes on the clock. Removing a 30-minute unpaid lunch leaves 7 hours 45 minutes worked — or 7.75 decimal hours.

Frequently asked questions

How do I enter a PM time?

Use the 24-hour clock: 5:45 PM is 17:45, 12:30 AM is 00:30, and noon is 12:00. That removes any AM/PM ambiguity.

Does it handle overnight shifts?

Yes. If the end time is earlier on the clock than the start, the calculator adds 24 hours, so a 22:00 start and 06:00 end reads as 8 hours, not a negative span.

Why show decimal hours?

Payroll multiplies the hourly rate by decimal hours, where 45 minutes is 0.75, not 0.45. The decimal row saves you the conversion.

Related calculators

Time Duration Calculator

Work out the hours, minutes and seconds between two clock times — 24-hour or AM/PM, across midnight or several days, minus a break — or add or subtract a duration to find an end or start time.

Timesheet Calculator

Add up a week of work: same hours every day or a start and end time for each day, unpaid breaks, clock rounding, overtime (US 40-hour, California daily or Mexico rules) and gross pay.

Add Time Calculator

Add or subtract durations in hours, minutes and seconds (HH:MM:SS, 1h 30m or days), as many as you need, and get the total as h m s, HH:MM:SS, minutes, seconds and decimal hours, plus the end time on the clock.

Decimal Hours to Time Calculator

Convert decimal hours to hours-and-minutes, or hours-and-minutes back to a decimal — both directions.

This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.