Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Rounding Time.
There may be instances when you need to round a time value. For instance, you may need to round some time to the nearest quarter-hour. One way to do this is to use the MROUND worksheet function, which is part of the Analysis ToolPak provided with Excel.
For example, let's assume the unrounded time was in cell B7. You could then use the following formula to perform the rounding:
=MROUND(B7, TIME(0,15,0))
This formula relies, as well, on the use of the TIME worksheet function, which returns a time value (in this case, for 15 minutes).
If you don't want to use the MROUND function (perhaps you don't want to use the Analysis ToolPak), there is another way you can round to the nearest 15 minutes. The clue is to remember that 15 minutes is 1/96th of a day. So to round to the nearest 15 minutes, take the time value, multiply it by 96, round it, and then divide it by 96.
For example, if the time value you wish to round is in cell E5, the following formula does the rounding very nicely:
=ROUND(E5*96,0)/96
Notice that this formula uses the ROUND worksheet function, which is intrinsic to Excel and doesn't require an add-in.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2186) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Rounding Time.
Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!
It is no secret that you can store time values in an Excel worksheet. But do you really know how small of a time value you ...
Discover MoreExcel allows you to easily store dates and times in your worksheets. If you have a range of cells that contain times and you ...
Discover MoreEnter a time into a cell and you normally include a colon between the hours and minutes. If you want to skip that pesky ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2016-02-25 04:59:28
Haytham
Hi,
If you please I would like to round up
85 seconds to the nearest minute
how can I do it using the excel ?
Regards,
2013-06-13 14:16:13
Darrell E
This tip worked perfectly! I had to separate a date/time format into date and time, then rounded the time to the nearest hour using =mround(B7, time(0,60,0)), then recombined the date and time into date/time for a lookup. Thank you for the tip!
Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2017 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: 
Comments