On Friday, we learned how to transpose a table of data using Excel formulas.
In comments of that post, Joey gave us an interesting tip.
Might I recommend an alternative that involves no array formulas, is easier to debug and less computationally intensive.
1) Highlight area to be transposed and copy
2) Paste special -> Paste Link, somewhere else on the sheet
3) Highlight new area and Find/Replace “=” with “xxx”
4) Copy new area, paste special –> transpose
5) Find/Replace “xxx” with “=”
Now you have a direct link to the cell with no fancy formula required (link)
This is quick, easy to use & lovely way to transpose data.
So let me explain this in detail.
6 Steps to transpose a table of data
by using Copy, Paste, Find & Replace
- Copy your original data & paste links to it in a blank place (CTRL+ALT+V and L)
- Select this new data & Press CTRL+H
- Replace all = with x=
- Copy again & paste special > transpose in another blank area
- Press CTRL + H again and Replace all x= with =
- You are Done!
See below tutorial to understand how this works:

Thanks Joey…,
Special thanks to Joey for suggesting this method. It is a testament to our readers’ awesomeness.
If you enjoyed this tip, say thanks to Joey.
More tricks using Paste Special, Find Replace etc.
For a few more tricks & clever uses of paste special, find replace, go to special, check out these links:
- Quickly fill blank cells in a table using Paste Special
- Extract portions of text using Find Replace
- Use Paste Special to format charts quickly
- Quickly change formulas using Find Replace
- Compare row differences using Go to Special
- Delete Blank rows using goto special
- More tips on using Paste Special, Go to Special & Find Replace














13 Responses to “Convert fractional Excel time to hours & minutes [Quick tip]”
Hi Purna..
Again a great tip.. Its a great way to convert Fractional Time..
By the way.. Excel has two great and rarely used formula..
=DOLLARFR(7.8,60) and =DOLLARDE(7.48,60)
basically US Account person uses those to convert some currency denomination.. and we can use it to convert Year(i.e 3.11 Year = 3 year 11 month) and Week(6.5 week = 6 week 5 days), in the same manner...
This doesn't work for me. When applying the custom format of [h]:mm to 7.8 I get 187:12
Any ideas why?
@Jason
7.8 in Excel talk means 7.8 days
=7.8*24
=187.2 Hrs
=187 Hrs 12 Mins
If you follow Chandoo's instructions you will see that he divides the 7.8 by 24 to get it to a fraction of a day
Simple, assuming the fractional time is in cell A1,
Use below steps to convert it to hours & minutes:
1. In the target cell, write =A1/24
2. Select the target cell and press CTRL+1 to format it (you can also right click and select format cells)
3. Select Custom from “Number” tab and enter the code [h]:mm
4. Done!
Hi, sorry to point this out but Column C Header is misspelt 'Hours Palyed'
good one
So how do I go the other way and get hours and minutes to fractional time?
If you have 7.5 in cell A1,
- Use int(A1) to get the hours.
- Use mod(A1,1)*60 to get minutes.
If you have 7:30 (formatted as time) in A1
- Use hours(a1) to get hours
- Use minutes(a1) to get minutes.
I had the same issue. You can solve it by changing the format as described above:
Right click cell > Format Cells > (In Number tab) > Custom > Then enter the code [h]:mm
([hh]:mm and [hhh]:mm are nice too if you want to show leading zeros)
Thanks guys, these are the tips I'm looking for.
...dividing the number of minutes elapsed by the percent change is my task - "int" is the key this time
It doesnt work for greater than 24 hours
It returns 1:30 for 25.5 hours. It should have returned 25:30
Ideally I would right function as
=QUOTIENT(A1,1)&":"&MOD(A1,1)*60
Sorry, replied to wrong comment....
----
I had the same issue. You can solve it by changing the format as described above:
Right click cell > Format Cells > (In Number tab) > Custom > Then enter the code [h]:mm
([hh]:mm and [hhh]:mm are nice too if you want to show leading zeros)
Clever use of MOD here to extract the decimal part of a number. Divide a number containing a decimal by 1 and return the remainder. Humm. Very clever.
Thanks very much, extremely useful !