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.
You can use this function with 12 hour AM/PM time or 24 hour time. If you give the function a date and time, the spreadsheet will ignore the date and convert the time. To represent seconds, use a second colon. 5 minutes and 12 seconds would be “00:05:12” not “05:12”.
Remember that dates are 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.
Contents
Syntax
=TIMEVALUE(time_text)
time_text The text representation of a time.
Related Functions
DATEVALUE – Converts a date to a numeric value similar to 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 aren’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 creating an employee timesheet.
Live Examples in Sheets
Go to this spreadsheet for the examples of the TIMEVALUE function shown above that you can study and use anywhere you would like.