The times are hours and minutes. To change that to minutes and seconds:

In an empty cell, enter the number 60. EditCopy. Select your times.
EditPaste Special, check Divide.
If the sum of the times is over 24 hours, Format Custom [h]:mm:ss

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Kind regards,

Niek Otten

Microsoft MVP - Excel

"Stephen Larivee" wrote in message
...
I have an Excel sheet with a long list of times spent on various projects.
The times should all be in minutes and seconds. The first time reads 2:29
and I know that is accurate, for 2 min, 29 seconds. In the formula bar, it
reads, 2:29:00 AM. Another...the cell displays 0:40 and I know that is
right, for 40 seconds. But in the formula bar, I see 12:40:00 AM

I want numbers, but apparently I am looking at times.

I tried changing the format. When I check the format for 2:29, it comes
up Custom and says it is hh:mm, not mm:ss. I tried changing it to mm:ss,
but that changes the display to 29:00, since it is still seeing the 29 as
minutes and not seconds.

Is there anything I can do, or is this a mistake being made by the person
sending me the sheet?

I am trying to total all of these durations but it is not coming out right
no matter how I change the formats.