If you want to build a time of day from separate hour, minute, and second values, the TIME function in Google Sheets is the cleanest way to do it. You hand it three numbers and it gives back a single time value you can format, add to, or use in other formulas.
In this article, I’ll walk through five practical examples covering everything from combining columns into a time value to adding shift durations to a start time.
TIME Function Syntax in Google Sheets
Here is how you write the TIME function.
=TIME(hour, minute, second)
- hour – a number from 0 to 23. Values 24 and above wrap around (25 becomes 1, 30 becomes 6).
- minute – a number from 0 to 59. Values over 59 roll into the hour.
- second – a number from 0 to 59. Values over 59 roll into the minute.
One thing to know upfront. TIME returns a fraction between 0 and 1, where 0 is midnight and 0.5 is noon. The cell shows as 12:00:00 PM only when the format is set to Time. The underlying value is still the decimal.
When to Use TIME Function
- Convert separate hour, minute, and second columns into a single time value.
- Add a fixed duration to an existing time, like pushing every appointment forward by 30 minutes.
- Calculate a shift end time from a start time and the number of hours worked.
- Build time of day inputs for schedules, timetables, and booking sheets.
- Pair with DATE to build a full timestamp from numeric parts.
Example 1: Build Time Values From Hour, Minute, and Second Columns
This is the simplest job TIME does.
Below is the dataset, with hour in column A, minute in column B, and second in column C across rows 2 to 6.
The goal is to combine each row into a single time value in column D.
Here is the formula:
=TIME(A2, B2, C2)
Drop the formula in D2 and fill it down to D6. Each row pulls its three numbers and produces a time value. Row 2 with 9, 30, 0 becomes 9:30:00 AM. Row 6 with 23, 59, 59 becomes 11:59:59 PM, one second before midnight.
The cells display as times because column D is formatted as Time. Click any cell and the formula bar shows the formula, while the cell shows the human-readable time.
Pro Tip: If you’d rather use one formula instead of filling down, wrap TIME in ARRAYFORMULA: `=ARRAYFORMULA(TIME(A2:A6, B2:B6, C2:C6))`. Same result, one cell holds the formula.
Example 2: Hours Over 24 Wrap Around the Clock
Pass in an hour bigger than 23 and TIME quietly takes it modulo 24.
Below is the dataset, a single description cell explaining the scenario in A2.
The goal is to see what happens when the hour argument is 25.
Here is the formula:
=TIME(25, 30, 0)
The cell lands on 1:30 AM. TIME subtracts 24 from the 25 and uses what is left over. The same thing happens with 30, which becomes 6. This is handy when you are adding times that cross midnight, but it can surprise you if you expected an error.
Pro Tip: If you need a value that does NOT wrap around midnight (say, total hours worked across days), don’t use TIME. Use a plain number divided by 24, or keep the duration as a regular number.
Example 3: TIME With Literal Numbers for 2:30 PM
Sometimes you just want a specific time of day, no input cells needed.
Below is the dataset, a single description cell in A2.
The goal is to write 2:30 PM as a time value using only the function.
Here is the formula:
=TIME(14, 30, 0)
Because hour uses a 24-hour clock, 2:30 PM is 14:30. After Time formatting the cell reads as 2:30:00 PM. Under the hood the value is 0.604166666666667, which is roughly 60 percent of the way through a 24-hour day.
This is the easiest way to drop a fixed time into a formula without typing it as text and hoping Google Sheets parses it correctly.
Example 4: Add 30 Minutes to an Existing Time
TIME shines as the second half of an addition.
Below is the dataset, with start times in column A across rows 2 to 5.
The goal is to push every time forward by 30 minutes.
Here is the formula:
=A2+TIME(0, 30, 0)
TIME(0, 30, 0) produces a 30-minute duration as a fraction (0.0208…). Adding it to the start time gives you the new time. 9:00 AM becomes 9:30 AM, 10:15 AM becomes 10:45 AM, and so on down the column.
You can flip this around to subtract too. =A2-TIME(0, 15, 0) pulls every time back by 15 minutes.
Example 5: Calculate Shift End From Start Time and Hours Worked
Three input columns, one output.
Below is the dataset, with the shift start in column A, hours in column B, and minutes in column C across rows 2 to 5.
The goal is to compute the shift end time in column D.
Here is the formula:
=A2+TIME(B2, C2, 0)
Each row builds a duration from its B and C values, then adds it to the start time in column A. An 8:00 AM start plus 8 hours and 0 minutes lands at 4:00 PM. A 9:30 AM start plus 7 hours 30 minutes ends at 5:00 PM.
If a shift would cross midnight, remember the wrap rule from Example 2. The result will look correct but represent a time on the next day, which can throw off downstream calculations.
Tips & Common Mistakes
- Format the cell as Time – TIME returns a fraction. Without Time formatting the cell shows something like 0.604, not 2:30 PM. Set the format from
Format > Number > Timeor use a custom format likeh:mm AM/PM. - Hours over 23 wrap, they do not throw an error – useful for clock math, but a silent surprise if you wanted validation. Add an IF check around TIME if you need strict bounds.
- For dates plus times, combine with DATE –
=DATE(2026,1,15)+TIME(9,30,0)gives a full timestamp for January 15, 2026 at 9:30 AM. Format the cell as Date time to see both parts.
That covers building, wrapping, and combining time values with TIME. Format the result column as Time, watch for the modulo-24 behavior on big hour inputs, and pair TIME with DATE or the NOW function when you need a full date-and-time stamp.
List of All Google Sheets Functions
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