Insert time in cells from a straightforward time picker with easy time formatting

Same as entering dates in Excel cells, entering time can be quite frustrating. Should you use AM/PM or a 24-hour format? Do you need just hours and minutes, or seconds as well? Will Excel display time values exactly as you want? With this Excel time picker, you can easily manage appointments and timesheets or add a timestamp on a report.

The Popup Clock add-in is a simple and straightforward time picker:

  • Pops up next to a cell
  • Easy to use: select cells – set time, or date and time
  • Populate cells, columns, rows or any ranges with time values
  • Choose from numerous default time format options, preset and custom
  • Works both in 64 bit and 32 bit Excel

Before you begin, add Popup Clock to Excel

Popup Clock is one of the 20+ features within XLTools Add-in for Excel. Works in Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, desktop Office 365.

Get started with XLTools ribbon
– free trial gives you 14 days of full access to all features.

How to insert or change time in a cell using the Popup Clock

  1. Select a cell.
  2. In the Date/Time group, click the Insert Time button The time picker will pop up next to the cell.
    Or: right-click and choose Insert time.
    Or: use a shortcut – press Ctrl + Shift + ; (semi-colon).
  3. Set the time by using a scroll wheel or the Up/Down arrows Press Enter Done.
    Note the time format: is it what you wanted? Learn how to change the default time format of the Popup Clock.
  4. To change a time entry, click on the Clock icon to the right of the cell Change time.

The Popup Clock remembers the last used time value, so it is easier to insert time the next time.

Note: after you enter time, the cell is automatically assigned Number/Time format. If you delete the time value later, the cell will still keep its Time format, and the Popup Clock icon will remain available for this blank cell. To remove the icon, change the cell's format to General.
Insert time into a cell from the Popup Clock

How to populate an entire column, row or non-adjacent cells range with time

Use the Popup Clock to populate with time values an entire range. You can insert time into table columns, rows, merged cells, non-adjacent cells or any custom range (limitation up to 4000 cells) just the same, as into a single cell:

  1. Select a range.
  2. In the Date/Time group, click the Insert Time button The time picker will pop up next to the cell.
    Or: right-click and choose Insert time.
    Or: use a shortcut – press Ctrl + Shift + ; (semi-colon).
  3. Set the time by using a scroll wheel or the Up/Down arrows Press Enter Done. The whole range is populated with the selected time value.
  4. To change the time entry in a specific cell, click on the Clock icon to the right of the cell Change time.
Note: after you enter time, the cells are automatically assigned Number/Time format. If you delete some of the time values later, the cells will still keep their Time format, and the Popup Clock icon will remain available for these blank cells. To remove the icon, change the cells' format to General.
Populate a range with time values from the time picker

How to populate a range with consecutive time values

With the Popup Clock you can quickly populate a range with consecutive time entries (sequential hours):

  1. XLTools tab Settings button Date/Time tab Check the box Auto-increment time when I use time picker for a range of cells OK.
  2. Select a range.
  3. In the Date/Time group, click the Insert Time button The time picker will pop up next to the cell.
    Or: right-click and choose Insert time.
    Or: use a shortcut – press Ctrl + Shift + ; (semi-colon).
  4. Pick the starting time value Done, the whole range is automatically filled with consecutive time values with 1 hour increments.
Populate a range with consecutive time values

How to insert both date and time into a cell

  1. Select a cell.
  2. In the Date/Time group, click the Date & Time button The Popup Calendar with Clock will appear next to the cell.
    Or: right-click and choose Insert Date & Time.
    Or: use a shortcut – press Ctrl + ; (semi-colon), then release the keys and press Ctrl + Shift + ; (semi-colon).
  3. Set the time by using a scroll wheel or the Up/Down arrows Choose a date from the Popup Calendar Done.
    note the time format is it what you wanted? You can change the default format of the Popup Calendar and Clock.
  4. To change an entry, click on the icon to the right of the cell Change time and date.
Note: after you enter date and time, the cell is automatically assigned Number/Date format. If you delete the value later, the cell will still keep its Date format, and the Popup Calendar with Clock icon will remain available for this blank cell. To remove the icon, change the cell's format to General.
Insert both date and time into a cell from the date picker

How to insert only date (without time) into a cell

Use the Popup Calendar date picker to pick and insert dates into cells and ranges:

  1. Select a cell or a range.
  2. In the Date/Time group, click the Insert Date button The Popup Calendar will appear next to the cell.
    Or: right-click and Insert Date.
    Or: use a shortcut – press Ctrl + ; (semi-colon).
  3. Pick a date from the Calendar Done.
Insert only dates into cells from Excel Popup Calendar

How to change the default time format of the Popup Clock

You can change the default time format of the Popup Clock:

  1. Click Settings on XLTools ribbon Date/Time tab.
  2. Check the box Use the Date and Time format below as default.
    Note: if you uncheck this box, the Popup Clock will use the format specified in your system settings.
  3. Select your preferred format, e.g. the format customary in your country or language.
    Or: define and set your custom format.
  4. Click OK Done.
Set custom time format for the Popup Clock

You may find that some cells would not comply with the Clock’s format settings. It means the cells had been assigned a different time format earlier. In this case, change the cells' format:

  1. Select cells Right-click and choose Format cells.
  2. Open Number tab Time format Select the required time format.

Initially, the Popup Clock employs your system settings for default date and time format. You can change your system settings altogether. note, this will affect all user accounts on your computer:

  1. Control Panel Clock, Language, and Region Region.
  2. Formats tab Set date and time formats, first day of the week.
  3. Location tab Set your home country location.
  4. Administrative tab Change system locale Restart your computer.

How to change a shortcut for the Popup Clock

For your convenience, the default shortcut for the Popup Clock is Ctrl+Shift+; (semi-colon) – the same combination used in Excel to insert the current time. You can change the Popup Clock shortcut at any time:

XLTools tab Settings button Shortcuts tab Set a different shortcut OK.

Set shortcuts for the Popup Clock in Excel

How to add/remove the Popup Clock icon

The Clock icon appears to the right of a selected a cell, when the cell has Time format. Clicking the icon opens the time picker.

  • To disable the Clock icon:
    1. Click Settings on XLTools ribbon Date/Time tab.
    2. Uncheck the box Display the Popup Calendar and Clock icons OK.
    3. Done! The icons will not display, but the Calendar and Clock will still be availalbe for use. You can bring the icons back at any time.
Hide or display drop-down icons for the Popup Clock in Excel
  • To make the Clock icon readily available near a blank cell, column, row or custom range:

    1. Select a blank cell or a range.
    2. Home tab Number group Time OK. This will assign time format to the cells.
      Or: use the Popup Clock to insert any time value Press Delete. This will remove the actual values and yet assign time format to the selected cells.
    3. Done! Now if you select any cell in this range, the Clock icon will appear near that cell.
  • To remove the Clock icon from empty cells:

    If a cell is empty, but it still has an icon beside it, it means that the cell still has date or time format assigned. To remove the icon from blank cells, change their format back to General:

    1. Select an empty cell or a range.
    2. Home tab Edit group Clear formats.
      Or: Home tab Number group Select General from the drop-down list.
      Or: Right-click Format cells Number tab Select General OK.
  1. Click Settings on XLTools ribbon Date/Time tab.
  2. Check/uncheck the relevant boxes:
    • Add “Insert Date” to the context menu
    • Add “Insert Time” to the context menu
    • Add “Insert Date & Time” to the context menu
  3. Click OK Done.
Remove or add Popup Clock from the right-click menu

How to embed a time picker into an Excel spreadsheet

Try the Embedded Calendar feature. You can embed calendar and clock into a workbook, and it will be available to other users of the workbook.

Any questions or suggestions?
Adrian EarlyHi Maria. If I purchase the license for XL Tools Add-in, will people with whom I share my spreadsheets be able to experience full functionality created by the Add-in .... even though they will likely not have the license themselves?
November 14, 2019 at 18:43
Maria BalobanovaHi Adrian, No, people whom you share your spreadsheets with will not be able to see or use the Popup Calendar, unless they have XLTools installed. The Popup Calendar is not sharable or embeddable in spreadsheets. Take a look at our online Calendar App in Microsoft AppSource. It has some limitations too, but it is a date picker you can share.
November 15, 2019 at 09:37
Francois MaurionWhen adding time to an excel sheet i would like it to default to the computer current time not the previous time entered. Is there a way to do this? i.e i entered the time in a cell let's say 12:30pm now i go to enter the time in a new cell (one below) the time selection comes up as 12:30pm but the time is now 1:30 pm . is there a way to have the current time come up as default as opposed to the previous time entered?
August 6, 2019 at 17:37
Maria BalobanovaHi Francois, Thank you for the question! Currently there is no option to change the settings for the Popup Clock. We'll take it into consideration for the future releases. But you can always use the hotkeys to insert the current time: select a cell and click the combination Ctrl+Shift+; (or, you can set another combination in XLTools Settings > Shortcuts tab).
August 9, 2019 at 12:19
TomIf I use this add-in and I have start and end dates can I use an excel formula to calculate the amount of hours in between? Example: start 10:00 AM end 4:30 PM calculated hours: 6.5
June 11, 2018 at 00:12
Maria BalobanovaHi Tom, Absolutely. The Calendar is a tool that helps you insert date/time into cells. So the formula to calculate the difference between two times works as usual. Say, use the Popup Calendar to enter time: A1=10:00 AM, B1=4:30 PM. Then use the formula C1=B1-A1, and the result will be 6:30 (6h 30min difference). Note, that column C should have custom format h:mm.
June 13, 2018 at 09:00
Frank Wright Can this Add-in be used with 2016 Excel Userform in VBA? Thanks
May 6, 2018 at 12:39
Maria Balobanova

Hello Frank,

No, the Popup Calendar cannot be used with Excel VBA Userforms. Note that this calendar is not sharable either. It's meant for individual use and is visible only to users who have XLTools installed on their computers.

May 7, 2018 at 10:59
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