Time calculation giving value error

Question

Time calculation giving value error Time calculation giving value error

Answer 1

Hi Daniel, thanks for posting. Are you using Excel or another Microsoft app when you get the value error?

This issue often happens if one of the cells in your time formula isn’t in the correct time or number format. Try setting the cell format to Time or General, then check your formula (for example, =B2-A2).

You can review Microsoft’s official guide on fixing time and date calculation errors here: https://support.microsoft.com/excel

Answer 2

Arlene this is happening using both desktop and online versions of excel. I was also on a call with an excel specialist who was having the same issue on their computer.

Time formatting is not functioning no matter what fix I have tried.

Answer 3

You need to be more precise. What exactly are you trying to achieve? Share a file or include some screenshots that show us the formula(s) used, the underlying data, the errors and mention the expected results.

Answer 4

Hi there, thanks for the update. Since the issue happens in both Excel desktop and Excel for the web, it could be linked to your account settings or a regional format conflict. Could you check if your system and Excel regional settings match, especially the time and date formats?

Try going to File, then Options, then Advanced, and review the “When calculating this workbook” section. If the issue continues, the best step is to report it directly through Excel by selecting Help, then Feedback, then Send a Frown. This sends diagnostic data to Microsoft engineers so they can review and fix the issue.

Answer 5

Your calculation has several problems.

12AM - 8AM results in a negative value. Multiplying by 24 yields -8. This value is not a value that can be formatted as a date or time.

If you intended that 12AM to be midnight at the end of the day, you need to enter it as 24:00. It will still display as 12AM but the underlying value will be for midnight the next day. This will give you the 16 hour time difference you expect.

Multiplying the difference of two time values by 24 does not produce the value you want. Since time values are stored as the fraction of the day past midnight, simply format the difference as hh.mm.

If this does not solve the issue, please provide details about what the values represent and what you are trying to calculate.