Excel Time Format Without Seconds: How to Set It

To show an Excel time without seconds, select the cells, press Ctrl+1 on Windows, choose Number > Custom, and enter h:mm as the format. This changes how the time appears, not the stored value: any seconds remain available for calculations.

Set a time format without seconds

In Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows, apply the format to one cell or a range:

Select the time cells.
Press Ctrl+1 to open Format Cells. You can also use the dialog launcher in the Home tab’s Number group.
Choose the Number tab, then select Custom.
In the Type box, enter h:mm and select OK.

A value such as 9:15:37 will then appear as 9:15. The seconds are hidden rather than deleted. To show a leading zero for single-digit hours, use hh:mm, which displays that value as 09:15. The same format can be applied to a whole column; new entries in cells with that format generally display without seconds too.

If Excel already shows a time with seconds, choosing a built-in time option from the Number Format list may also work, but available choices can differ by regional settings and workbook. A custom format is more reliable when you specifically want hours and minutes and need to control leading zeros or AM/PM.

Choose the right format code

Use a format code that matches how readers should interpret the time. In Excel’s custom number formats, h represents the hour and m represents the minute in a time pattern such as h:mm.

h:mm displays 9:05 without a leading zero on the hour.
hh:mm displays 09:05 with a two-digit hour.
h:mm AM/PM displays a 12-hour time such as 9:05 AM or 1:30 PM.
hh:mm AM/PM displays a two-digit hour, such as 09:05 AM.

Without AM/PM, Excel uses a 24-hour clock for these formats: 1:30 PM appears as 13:30. That is often useful for schedules and data exports, while an AM/PM marker can make everyday appointment times clearer. The code is a display instruction, not a way to change whether the underlying time is morning or afternoon.

One point of confusion is the letter m. In date formats it can mean month, but Excel interprets it as minutes in a time pattern where it follows an hour or is associated with seconds. Thus h:mm is hours and minutes. When combining a date and time, use a clear pattern such as m/d/yyyy h:mm; Excel recognizes the time portion as hours and minutes.

What happens to the seconds?

Excel stores recognized times as numbers: the fractional part of a day represents the time of day. A whole day is 1, so one hour is 1/24 of a day and one second is 1/86,400. A date-and-time value combines a day count with a time fraction. The number format tells Excel which parts of that value to display.

Consequently, formatting 9:15:37 as h:mm does not make it exactly 9:15:00. The underlying value still includes 37 seconds. If you subtract two such values, calculate an average, or compare them, those seconds can affect the result even though they are invisible in the cells. Sorting also uses the stored values, not just the visible hour-and-minute labels.

This distinction matters when two cells both appear as 9:15 but contain 9:15:02 and 9:15:48. They look identical at a glance, yet they are not equal as Excel values. If the requirement is only to make a report easier to read, changing the number format is usually the right approach. If seconds must not count in later calculations, use a method that changes the values as well.

Hide seconds or remove them from the values?

For a display-only change, use h:mm. This is reversible: select the cells and apply a format that includes seconds, such as h:mm:ss, to see them again. It also preserves the original precision for calculations that need it.

To remove the seconds while keeping a date and time in A2, use a separate column and enter the following formula in B2:

With a date and time in A2, such as 11/2/2026 9:15:37, use =A2-SECOND(A2)/86400. The result is the same date at 9:15:00; format B2 as h:mm if you want to display only 9:15.

This formula subtracts the seconds portion of the time, expressed as a fraction of a day. It preserves the date and the hour and minute. It changes the calculated result, unlike custom formatting, but leaves the original in A2 intact. If you need to replace the original column, first check the results, then copy them and use Paste Special > Values over the original cells. Keeping an untouched copy is prudent when the source data matters.

Do not confuse removing seconds with rounding to the nearest minute. The formula above drops the seconds: 9:15:59 becomes 9:15:00. A rounding rule would instead make some values advance to the next minute. Decide whether the data should be truncated or rounded before changing it.

Dates, durations, and totals

A clock time and an elapsed duration are not always displayed the same way. The format h:mm treats the hour as a time-of-day component. Excel’s clock-style hour display cycles after 24 hours, so an accumulated duration of 27 hours and 15 minutes can appear as 3:15. For totals that may exceed one day, use the elapsed-hour format [h]:mm. The square brackets tell Excel to show total hours rather than wrap them at 24.

For example, if a work log adds several shifts and the total is 27 hours and 15 minutes, [h]:mm shows 27:15. The same data formatted as h:mm shows 3:15, which could be mistaken for a time of day. The bracketed format still hides seconds; use [h]:mm:ss if the total duration should show them.

If cells contain both dates and times, a time-only display can hide the dates too. Two entries from different days might both display as 9:15 when formatted as h:mm. For review or audit work, a format such as m/d/yyyy h:mm can make the date visible while leaving seconds out. The stored date is not removed by displaying only the time.

When a formula is useful

Formatting is best when the data should stay numeric and only its appearance needs to change. A formula using TEXT is useful when you specifically need a text label, for example for a concatenated report or a fixed-format display. With a time in A2, enter =TEXT(A2,"h:mm") in B2; if A2 is 9:15:37, the result is the text 9:15.

That result is text, not a time value. It will not behave like the original number in time arithmetic, and other formulas may need to convert it before calculating. For that reason, do not replace a numeric time column with TEXT results merely to hide seconds. Apply a cell format when users still need to sort, calculate, or chart the values as times.

Common problems and fixes

The seconds still appear: Confirm that the intended cells are selected and that their format is h:mm, not h:mm:ss. If the cells contain text rather than recognized Excel times, a number format will not change the text; the values may need to be converted to real times first.
The time seems to change after formatting: Compare the formula bar or temporarily apply a format with seconds. The displayed minute may be the same while hidden seconds remain. The format itself does not round the value.
Minutes show as months: Check the complete format code. In a date pattern, m can mean month; in h:mm it is interpreted as minutes. Use the time pattern exactly rather than an isolated month code.
A total is unexpectedly small: If the value is an elapsed duration over 24 hours, use [h]:mm rather than h:mm.
You see hashes: A column may be too narrow to display a formatted value. Widen it or use Home > Format > AutoFit Column Width. Hash marks can also occur for negative date/time values under Excel’s default date system.

Also check whether imported entries are actual time values. Text such as an apostrophe-prefixed ‘9:15:37’ will remain text when you apply a custom number format. A quick clue is that number formats have no effect and arithmetic may not treat the entry as a time. How Excel parses typed or imported values can depend on the computer’s regional date and time settings.

Excel for Mac and Excel for the web

On Excel for Mac, select the cells and open Format Cells with Command+1, then choose Number > Custom and enter h:mm. Menu labels can vary slightly between releases, but the custom number format works the same way. If the shortcut is intercepted by the system or a keyboard setting, open Format Cells from the Home tab’s number-format controls.

In Excel for the web, select the cells and use the Home tab’s Number Format menu. Choose More Number Formats and look for the custom format option, then enter h:mm. The exact menu layout may vary as the web interface changes. A workbook’s custom format is stored with the workbook, but a plain-text export such as CSV does not preserve Excel’s number-format metadata. Check exported files in the application that will receive them instead of assuming the visual format travels with the workbook.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I show time as HH:MM in Excel?
Select the cells, open Format Cells, choose Custom, and enter hh:mm. The two h characters add a leading zero to single-digit hours; use h:mm if you prefer 9:05 instead of 09:05.

Does h:mm round seconds up?
No. It hides the seconds and leaves the underlying value unchanged. A time of 9:15:59 displays as 9:15, not 9:16. Use a deliberate formula or data-cleaning step if you need to change or round the value.

How do I show AM and PM but not seconds?
Apply the custom format h:mm AM/PM. It displays a 12-hour clock, such as 9:15 AM or 1:30 PM, without displaying seconds.

Why does my time total wrap after 24 hours?
The ordinary clock format h:mm displays hours as a time of day, so the hours cycle. For accumulated hours, format the total as [h]:mm to display values such as 27:15.

Can I hide seconds without changing the calculations?
Yes. Apply h:mm to the cells. Their displayed values omit seconds, but the original seconds remain in the numeric values and can still affect calculations.

Try it: the Date Difference Calculator: days, months, years and weekdays between two dates, with the DATEDIF formulas.

More in How-to basics

Sources: Function behaviour and menu paths: Microsoft Support documentation for Excel. Method & sources

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