HOUR
Date & Time
Returns the hour component of a time value (0-23).
Translations
EnglishHOUR
FrenchHEURE
SpanishHORA
GermanSTUNDE
ItalianORA
PortugueseHORA
DutchUUR
PolishGODZINA
RussianЧАС
TurkishSAAT
CzechHODINA
HungarianÓRA
SwedishTIMME
DanishTIME
FinnishTUNNIT
Syntax
HOUR(serial_number)Arguments
serial_numberTime value or cell reference
Examples
=HOUR("14:30")14
Hour from time string
=HOUR(NOW())Current hour
Hour from current time
=HOUR(A1)Hour from cell
Extracts hour component
Tips & Best Practices
- •Returns 0-23 (24-hour format)
- •Works with datetime values too
- •Combine with MINUTE and SECOND
Common Mistakes
- •Applying HOUR to a cell that's actually just a date with no time component, which correctly but unhelpfully returns 0 every time
- •Expecting HOUR to return a 12-hour clock value - it always returns the 24-hour hour number (0-23), regardless of how the cell is formatted for display
- •Using HOUR on a text string that looks like a time instead of an actual time value, which returns a #VALUE! error
Related Functions
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does HOUR always return 0 for my dates?
The cell probably has no actual time component - just a date at midnight, which is stored internally as hour 0.
Does HOUR return a 12-hour or 24-hour value?
Always 24-hour, from 0 to 23, no matter how the cell is displayed. 3 PM returns 15, not 3.
Why does HOUR return a #VALUE! error?
The source cell is probably text that looks like a time rather than an actual time value - try TIMEVALUE to convert it first.
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