How does it handle overnight shifts?

When the end time is earlier than the start time the calculator automatically adds 24 hours, so 22:00 → 06:00 reads as 8 hours, not -16. If your start and end times are equal but you actually worked through the night, set the Overnight shift toggle to Yes to force a 24-hour window.

What's the decimal-hours format for?

Decimal hours (e.g. 7.75) are what payroll, billing, and freelance invoicing systems expect. 7h 45m is the same duration as 7.75 decimal hours; the calculator shows both so you can paste whichever your timesheet asks for.

Can I subtract lunch or breaks?

Yes. Enter the unpaid break length in minutes and it's subtracted from the elapsed window before the result is shown. If the break is longer than the worked window the calculator surfaces an error rather than a negative duration.

How is this different from the Date Difference calculator?

Date Difference works in whole days between two calendar dates. Hours Between works in clock-time within a single day (or one midnight rollover) — it answers "how long is this shift" rather than "how many days apart are these dates".

DATDate & Time

Hours Between Calculator

Enter a start time and end time and get the elapsed duration in hours-and-minutes, decimal hours, and total minutes. Subtract an unpaid break for accurate worked-time. Handles overnight shifts automatically.

Start time

End time

Unpaid break(optional)

min

Overnight shift(optional)

Try an example

Enter values above to see results

How It Works

Formula

\text{elapsed} = (\text{end} - \text{start}) \bmod 1440

\text{worked} = \text{elapsed} - \text{break}

\text{decimalHours} = \text{worked} / 60

Where

$\text{start}$: Start time as minutes since midnight (0–1439)
$\text{end}$: End time as minutes since midnight (0–1439)
$\text{break}$: Unpaid break length in minutes
$\text{elapsed}$: Minutes from start to end, wrapping past midnight if needed
$\text{worked}$: Elapsed minutes minus the unpaid break — the worked-time answer
$1440$: Minutes in a full 24-hour day

Enter a start and end time in 24-hour HH:MM form and the calculator returns the elapsed duration. It converts both times to minutes-since-midnight, subtracts start from end, adds 24 hours when the result is negative or you've flagged the shift as overnight, and finally subtracts your unpaid break. The duration is shown three ways: hours-and-minutes (8h 0m), decimal hours (8.00) for payroll, and total minutes (480) for shift scheduling.

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