Tag: timevalue

The TIMEVALUE function converts a time to a fraction of 1. Google Sheets works with times as fractions of a number, not as text strings. This function converts times into their usable form. Noon would be .5 and 6 PM would be .75.

The function can be used with 12 hour AM/PM time or with 24 hour time. If a date and time is given to the function, the date will be ignored, but the time will be converted. To represent seconds, use a second colon. 5 minutes and 12 seconds would be “00:05:12” not “05:12”.

Remember that dates are really just saved as numbers by your spreadsheet with date formatting applied. The date must be in a valid format, so you have to use the DATE function, wrap it in quotes, or use a cell reference to a cell containing a date.

Syntax

=TIMEVALUE(time_text)

time_text Text representation of a time.

Related functions

DATEVALUE – Converts a date to a numeric value in a similar way as TIMEVALUE.

HOUR – Returns the hour value from a time

MINUTE – Returns the minute value from a time

SECOND – Returns the second value from a time

Errors

#VALUE! – The inputs are something that isn’t a valid time such as “A minute ago” or “Then”.

#NUM – An input is a number but is not a valid time.

Examples

Embedded example

Video example

Below is an example of this function being used to create an employee timesheet.