Time Difference
A time duration calculator for the gap between two clock times. Enter start and end, take off an unpaid break, and read it as 8h 0m, 8.00 decimal hours, or 480 minutes.
Duration
End time is on the next day.
The break is longer than the gap, so nothing is left.
The day
09:00 to 17:00, same day · a dyed hour is an hour worked
This week
How to use
- Set the Start time. The box is a native time field, so it shows AM/PM or 24-hour depending on what your device uses.
- Set the End time next to it.
- For an overnight shift, type the times as they happened. An end that lands before the start rolls into the following day on its own.
- Put any unpaid break in the third box, in minutes. 30 for a half-hour lunch.
- Read the answer for hours and minutes, which is where most people stop.
- Read Decimal hours when a timesheet or an invoice wants 7.75 rather than 7h 45m.
- Use Copy share link to grab a link with the times baked in as from, to and break, plus every shift in the week, which is how you send the calculation to someone else.
About this tool
Open the time duration calculator and the boxes are already sitting at 09:00, 17:00 and a zero break, which answers the most-asked version of the question before you touch anything. Eight hours flat. Change either end and everything recomputes while you type, because there is no Calculate button to press. The answer reads 8 hours 0 minutes, Decimal hours reads 8.00 to two places, Total minutes reads 480, and a strip of the day's twenty-four hours shows where those eight sit.
An end time earlier than the start is taken as the next day, so 22:00 to 06:00 comes back as 8 hours with a note telling you the end is on the next day. Equal times are the case people get caught by: 09:00 to 09:00 is zero, not twenty-four hours. The break box subtracts whole minutes after that rollover has been applied, and a break longer than the gap is said rather than hidden: a 45-minute break against a 30-minute gap gives zero with a caution and a line at the Break field, and a typed 30.5 or a minus is refused there while the last answer holds.
The Friday closing shift, ready for the timesheet
Clocked in at 18:30, out at 03:15, with a 45-minute unpaid break in the middle: type the three numbers as they happened. The end rolls into Saturday on its own, the raw gap is 8h 45m, and the break brings the answer to 8 hours 0 minutes, with 8.00 and 480 in the cards, the next-day note confirming the rollover and the day strip running off the right edge and back on at the left.
The same shift comes round every Friday, so press Copy share link once. The address carries from, to and break, and next week the whole calculation is a bookmark, already filled in. Press + Add this shift as each night ends and the week totals itself underneath, every row riding the same address.
Before you rely on it
- It thinks in clock times only. There is no date field, so it can carry a shift across one midnight and no further, and a Friday-to-Monday gap belongs in the date difference calculator instead.
- One break per calculation. A day with a lunch and two coffee breaks needs those minutes added up before you type them in.
- Nothing is remembered between visits. The share link is the only way to bring a calculation or a week back, so paste it somewhere if the numbers matter tomorrow.
Frequently asked questions
Does it account for time zones?
It works in plain clock arithmetic and never asks where either time happened, or on which date, so on the night the clocks change the hours worked are one more or one fewer than it shows. For the gap between 3 PM in London and your evening in Bengaluru, the World Clock is the page that knows about zones; this one assumes both readings came off the same wall.
Can I total up a whole week of shifts?
Yes. Press + Add this shift after each one and it joins the week list, where every row can still be edited or removed. The cards switch to the week: hours so far, decimal hours, total minutes and how many shifts are listed. Minutes are added first and turned into decimals once, so three 20-minute shifts make 1.00, not 0.99.
How do I count hours across midnight?
Enter the shift exactly as worked, for example 22:00 to 06:00. Because the end is earlier on the clock than the start, it is read as the next day and you get 8 hours, with a note confirming the rollover happened and the day strip wrapping from 22 round to 05.
What are decimal hours for?
Payroll and invoicing usually want an hour expressed as a decimal fraction, so 8 hours 30 minutes goes in as 8.5. The card does that conversion and rounds to two places, which is enough to keep a minute-level total exact.
Why does 09:00 to 09:00 come out as zero and not 24 hours?
The next-day rule only fires when the end time is strictly earlier on the clock than the start. Identical times give a gap of zero minutes. If you really mean a full day, put 09:00 to 08:59 and add the last minute yourself.
Can I type times as 5:20 PM?
The two boxes are native time inputs, so they follow your system's clock format and will show an AM/PM picker if that is what your device uses. The value underneath is always 24-hour, which is why the share link carries 17:20.
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