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July 16, 2012 1 Comment

How to Create a Series of 30 Minute Time Intervals in Excel

How Excel Stores TimeOne of my readers tracks data points at 30 minute (half-hour) periods throughout the day. He asked me for some help in streamlining this process.

AutoFill the Step-value for a Series

You can use AutoFill in Excel to create this series. Here are the steps to take:

  1. In two adjacent cells, enter the beginning time value and the time that is 30 minutes later than the beginning time value.
  2. Select BOTH cells and AutoFill the cells in the range that you want to “populate.”

Calculate Decimal Number that Represents 30 Minutes

You can calculate the numeric value for a half-hour (30 minute) period:

  1. Use a Formula to subtract the Start Time from the End Time.
  2. Format the result as a Number with 6 Decimal Places.

In this case, the result is: 0.020833 which you can use as a Constant Value in a Formula.

Keyboard Shortcut to Enter the Current Time

Ctrl + Shift + : (Colon) will “time stamp” a cell.

How Excel Stores Time

While you can Format Time in a variety of ways, Excel must be able to recognize and store Time entries as Numeric entries! This means that correctly entered times align to the right-side of the cell. Time values are stored as a “decimal part of one” day. For example, 12:00 PM (Noon) is stored as 0.50 – 50% of the day has elapsed

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Click on this link to watch this Excel Tutorial in High Definition on my YouTube Channel – DannyRocksExcels

How to Create a Series of 30 Minute Intervals in Excel [ 6:22 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2689)
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April 3, 2009 Leave a Comment

Three Frustrations When Calculating TIme in Excel

When I am training a class to use MS Excel, I always get at least one question about performing time calculations. I sense that the person asking the question is frustrated. When I ask, “How many of you are frustrated when you try to perform a calculation to total time periods in Excel?” nearly every hand is raised! And they are right; Excel’s time calculations can cause frustration.

In this video lesson, I will show you how to overcome three common frustrations that you may have when performing time calculations in Excel.

Here are the steps to follow in this Excel Training Video:

  1. Format the cell that contains the formula =End_Time – Start_Time) to the Custom Number Format h:mm
  2. I encourage you to use this formula instead of a simple formula: =IF(End_Time < Start_Time, End_Time + 1, End_Time)-Start_Time.
  3. This will eliminate any possible “Negative times” which result in a cell filled with ######### A Negative Time is frequently the result of “Time Periods that Span Midnight. e.g. Start @ 11:00 PM and End @ 3:00 AM
  4. TIP: Use this Formula =MOD(End_Time – Start_Time, 1) This is the MODULUS Function.
  5. When you calculate the total number of hours and the result exceeds 24 hours, use this Format [h]:mm

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September 30, 2008 Leave a Comment

How to Solve Four Frustrations When Calculating Time in Excel

Have you ever been frustrated when you:

  1. Entered a “Time Value” in a cell only to find that Excel did not recognize it as a “time value?”
  2. Wrote a formula to calculate the elapsed time between “start and finish” only to find that Excel returned a “date” (e.g. 1/15/2008) and not a number?
  3. Wrote a formula to calculate the hours worked for your “Graveyard Shift” (those whose work hours cross Midnight) only to get a cell full of ########?
  4. Used the AutoSum function to calculate the total hours worked in a week only have Excel return a “silly” total like 1.7915?

Well, join the club! Most of my clients have experienced these four frustrations when they try to calculate “time values” in Excel. In this short video lesson, I will demonstrate how to solve each of these four frustrations.

I’d like to receive your feedback on this video lesson. Have you ever encountered this frustation? Did my explanation help you? What additional topics would you like me to cover?

You can email me – danny@thecompanyrocks.com

Here are the steps to follow in this video lesson:

  • Excel stores Time values as decimal numbers. Midnight is 0.00; 6:00 AM is 0.25; Noon is 0.5
  • Be careful when you enter “time values” into a cell. 12:00PM is considered “text.” You need to include a SPACE before the PM e.g. 12:00 PM in order to tell Excel that this is a “time value.”
  • Use this Keyboard Shortcut Ctrl+Shift+~ (Tilde) to see how Excel stores a “time value” in a cell.
  • When calculating “elapsed time”, use a “Custom Format” for  the cell with the Formula E.g. [h]:mm
  • When you calculate “elapsed time” for cells that “cross midnight” you will get ###### as your result unless you use a formula like =MOD((End_Time-Start_Time), 1)
  • When you total “time values” that will exceed 24 hours (E.g. Hours worked in a week) format the cell containing the formula with a “Custom Format” e.g.[h]:mm

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