Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Checking for Time Input.

Checking for Time Input

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 17, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365


3

Excel provides a number of functions that return True or False depending on the content of a cell. For instance, ISBLANK returns True if a cell is empty, ISERR returns True if a cell contains an error value, and ISTEXT returns True if a cell contains text. You may wonder if it is possible to determine if a cell contains a time.

The short answer is no, you cannot—Excel contains no function to indicate if a cell contains a time. The reason is quite simple: Times and dates in Excel are technically nothing but numbers. A date is any number in the range 1 to 2958465, which represent the dates of 1/1/1900 through 12/31/9999. If you add a decimal portion to the number, then that represents a time (0 is midnight, 0.25 is 6:00 am, 0.5 is noon, etc.).

Knowing the range of values that can be used for dates and times, along with the fact that a cell containing a time should be formatted properly to display a time, you can create a formula that will indicate if a cell contains a time:

=IF(AND(CELL("format",B2)>="D6",CELL("format",B2)<="D9"),
"Time Format","Not Time Format")

This formula checks the formatting applied to cell B2. If the formatting is one of the commonly used formats for times, then it returns the text "Time Format." If a different formatting is used, then the formula returns "Not Time Format."

A different approach is to check whether the value in cell B2 is a valid time value. You can do that by using a formula such as the following:

=IF(TIMEVALUE(TEXT(B2,"hh:mm:ss"))=B2, "Time Entry", "Not a Time Entry")

The function works fine as long as cell B2 contains only a time. If the cell contains both a date and time, then the function always returns "Not a Time Entry."

To get the best of both worlds—checking formats and the value in the cell—consider making a user-defined function in VBA. The reason is simple: VBA includes the IsDate function which not only looks at the current range of the number, but also checks to see that the cell is formatted as a date. The following macro provides an example as to how you could create such a function:

Function IsTime(rng As Range) As Boolean
    Dim sValue As String
    sValue = rng.Cells(1).Text
    On Error Resume Next
    IsTime = IsDate(TimeValue(sValue))
    On Error GoTo 0
End Function

To use the function, use the following formula in a cell:

=IsTime(B2)

The function reads how the value is displayed (using the text property of the cell object) and then tries to convert it with the TIMEVALUE function. If that is a date (determined by the IsDate function) then the display is a valid time. If it is not a date, VBA generates an error, which the code is programmed to ignore.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9699) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Checking for Time Input.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Understanding Hard and Soft Returns

Did you know that there are different types of returns in Word? Here's the inside scoop.

Discover More

Changing Cell Alignment

Individual cells in a table can be aligned any way you desire. As pointed out here, just select the cell and apply the ...

Discover More

Documents Marked as Security Risk

If your Word documents contain macros, it is possible that Word (or Windows itself) may block the use of those documents ...

Discover More

Program Successfully in Excel! John Walkenbach's name is synonymous with excellence in deciphering complex technical topics. With this comprehensive guide, "Mr. Spreadsheet" shows how to maximize your Excel experience using professional spreadsheet application development tips from his own personal bookshelf. Check out Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Dealing with Midnight Ending a Day

Dealing with times in Excel is fairly straightforward, except when it comes to midnight. Some people prefer that midnight ...

Discover More

Using Excel for Timing

Excel allows you to store times in a worksheet. If you want to use Excel to time certain events, there are a couple of ...

Discover More

Automatically Converting to GMT

You know what time it is, right? (Quick; look at your watch!) What if you want to know what time it is in Greenwich, ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is three less than 3?

2022-10-30 10:33:14

J. Woolley

Also, see https://excelribbon.tips.net/T011817_Conditionally_Formatting_Cells_Containing_Dates.html


2022-10-30 04:47:24

Peter Atherton

Scott H
Your formulas return 'Time Format' even if the cell is blank or contains a number. The Cell(("Format",ref) is the way to go.
G =: is general
D1 = Date & Time
D9 = Time


2022-10-30 00:01:03

Scott H

How about this. It should work in most cases. I have only tested this for time cells. It needs to be tested for date and date time cells

=IF (ISERROR(HOUR(A2)) ,"Not Time Format" ,"Time Format")


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.