Time Duration Calculator
Hours between two times, minus breaks, in both clock and decimal payroll form.
Calculate the Time Between Two Points
Time arithmetic is base-60 with a base-24 rollover, which is why doing it in your head produces errors and doing it in a spreadsheet produces formatting disputes. The classic failure is the overnight shift: 22:00 to 06:00 is eight hours, but subtract the numbers and you get minus sixteen.
This calculator handles that rollover, takes the unpaid break out of the total, and gives you the answer in decimal hours as well as hours and minutes — because payroll multiplies by a rate, and 7 h 30 m is 7.5, not 7.30.
Key features
- Overnight shifts handled — tick the box and an end time earlier than the start counts into the next day instead of going negative.
- Unpaid breaks deducted — enter the minutes and they come off the payable total.
- Decimal hours output — 7 h 30 m as 7.5, which is what every payroll system actually wants.
- Optional pay figure — add an hourly rate and the shift is costed for you.
- Nothing is stored — it is arithmetic in the page, with no account and no record of your hours.
This tool runs entirely inside your browser using native Web APIs. Your files and text are never uploaded to a server, never logged and never shared with third parties.
How to use: Time Duration Calculator
- Enter start and end
The two clock times. Your browser’s own time picker handles the format. - Tick past midnight if needed
For a shift that ends the following morning — without it, 22:00 to 06:00 cannot be read as eight hours. - Deduct the break
Unpaid break minutes come straight off the payable total. - Read the result
Hours and minutes, decimal hours for payroll, and the pay if you supplied a rate.
Technical specifications
| Processing location | Entirely in your browser — no server round trip |
|---|---|
| Data uploaded | None. Files and text never leave your device |
| Price | Free — no account, no trial, no usage cap |
| Category | Calculators |
| Works offline | Yes, once the page has loaded |
| Browser support | Chrome 90+, Edge 90+, Firefox 90+, Safari 15+ |
| Interface languages | English, 中文, हिन्दी, Español, العربية |
Frequently asked questions
How does it handle a shift crossing midnight?
Tick “Shift runs past midnight” and the end time is read as the next day, so 22:00 to 06:00 returns eight hours. It is a deliberate tick rather than a guess, because 09:00 to 08:00 could equally be a typo.
Why does payroll want decimal hours?
Because payroll multiplies hours by a rate, and 7 h 30 m is not 7.30. It is 7.5. Entering the minutes as a decimal fraction of the hour is what stops that error.
Does it account for daylight saving?
No. Durations are calculated as clock arithmetic. On a DST changeover night the real elapsed time differs by an hour, which matters for overnight shifts twice a year.
Can I total a whole week?
This calculates one shift at a time. Run each day and add the decimal-hour figures — that is the column payroll wants anyway, and adding decimals is the one bit of time arithmetic nobody gets wrong.