How to add times in excel automatically (Step-by-Step)

Consider the situation when you need to sum two separate time values to reach a total. Alternatively, you may need to subtract one time value from another to get the overall amount of time spent on a project. Excel makes it simple to add and subtract time, as you'll see in the sections below.

How to add time in excel online, 2016 and 2019

Assume you want to know how long it will take to accomplish two jobs in hours and minutes. The first assignment will take 6 hours and 45 minutes, and the second task will take 9 hours and 30 minutes, according to your estimates.

Here is a way to do this in a worksheet.

1. Enter 6:45 in cell B2, and enter 9:30 in cell B3.

2. Enter =B2+B3 in cell B4 and then hit Enter.

3. The time it takes to complete the two activities is 16:15—16 hours and 15 minutes.

That was simple enough, but if your hours total more than 24, you'll need to do an extra step. The formula result must be formatted in a specific way.

How to add up more than 24 hours in excel online, 2016 and 2019

1. Type 12:45 in cell B2 and 15:30 in cell B3.

2. In cell B4, type =B2+B3 and then hit Enter.

The final score is 4:15, which isn't what you'd anticipate. This is due to the fact that Task 2 is timed in 24-hour format. 3:30 and 15:30 are the same thing.

3. Select cell B4 to show the time as greater than 24 hours.

4. Choose Format, then Format Cells from the Cells group on the Home tab.

5. Choose Custom from the Category list in the Format Cells box and press ok.

How to subtract time in excel

Here's another illustration: Let's imagine you and your pals know when you started and finished a volunteer effort and want to know how much time you spent overall.

1. Enter the start time in cell B2, using a for AM or p for PM. Then hit the Enter key.

2. Enter the end time in cell C2, adding a or p if needed, and then click Enter.

3. For your pals Joy and Leslie, type the other start and finish timings.

4. Enter the formula =C2-B2 in cell D2 and click Enter to subtract the end time from the start time.

5. In the Format Cells box, in the Category list, select Custom.

6. Click h:mm (for hours and minutes) in the Type list, and then OK.

Richard laboured for 3 hours and 45 minutes, as we can see now

7. Copy the formula from cell D2 and drag it to cell D4 to get the results for Joy and Leslie. Along with the formula, the formatting in cell D2 is duplicated.

Note: This was an attempt to make you understand how to to add and subtract time in excel online, 2016 and 2019, in both windows and mac. 

You just need to have a little understanding of how and which way things work and you are good to go. With having this basic knowledge or information of how to use it, you can also access and use different other options on excel or spreadsheet. Also, it is very similar to Word or Document. So, in a way, if you learn one thing, like Excel, you can automatically learn how to use Word as well because both of them are very similar in so many ways. If you want to know more about WPS Office, you can download WPS Office to access, Word, Excel, PowerPoint for free.