Mastering ARRAYFORMULA in Google Sheets: Convert HH:MM:SS to Seconds

Learn how to effectively use ARRAYFORMULA in Google Sheets to automatically convert time formats into seconds with this easy-to-follow guide. --- This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/77587290/ asked by the user 'ContentAlive' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/23023125/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/77587339/ provided by the user 'rockinfreakshow' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/5479575/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions. Visit these links for original content and any more details, such as alternate solutions, comments, revision history etc. For example, the original title of the Question was: How to properly use ARRAYFORMULA in Google Sheets to calculate Form Responses Also, Content (except music) licensed under CC BY-SA https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/l... The original Question post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... ) license, and the original Answer post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... ) license. If anything seems off to you, please feel free to write me at vlogize [AT] gmail [DOT] com. --- Mastering ARRAYFORMULA in Google Sheets: Convert HH:MM:SS to Seconds Google Sheets is an incredibly powerful tool for data manipulation, and one of its most useful features is the ARRAYFORMULA. If you find yourself dealing with form responses in a time format (HH:MM:SS) and need to convert them into seconds, you're not alone. Many users struggle with the syntax required to create an effective ARRAYFORMULA. This post will lead you through the process step-by-step, making it easy for you to set up your own formula to handle this conversion automatically. The Problem: Converting Time Formats When responses are captured in a HH:MM:SS format and you need them represented in seconds, manually converting each entry can become tedious, especially if you're dealing with a large number of rows. Instead, employing an ARRAYFORMULA allows you to automate this task across an entire column. For example, you might have a formula like this for a single cell: [[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]] While effective for one cell, this approach won't work efficiently for multiple entries. So, let's explore how to take this formula and convert it into an ARRAYFORMULA. The Solution: Using ARRAYFORMULA To convert your time entries in HH:MM:SS format to seconds across column D without having to apply the formula cell by cell, you can utilize the following formula. Place the formula in the first row of your desired output column (for example, X1): [[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]] Breakdown of the Formula VSTACK("Header", ...): This part of the formula adds a header to your output, which is useful for clarity when reviewing your results. INDIRECT("D2:D"): This function creates a dynamic range that references all responses starting from D2 down the entire column. MAP(...): This function applies the formula inside it to each element of the array created by INDIRECT, allowing for an operation on multiple entries at once. LAMBDA(Σ, ...): The LAMBDA function defines a custom function where Σ represents each individual cell's value in column D that you're looping through. IF(Σ="", , ...): This part of the formula checks if the cell is empty. If it is, it returns an empty cell in the output; otherwise, it continues to compute the total seconds. SUM(HOUR(Σ)*3600, MINUTE(Σ)*60, SECOND(Σ)): This computes the total number of seconds by converting hours to seconds, minutes to seconds, and summing them all together. Implementing the Formula Open your Google Sheets document. Select the cell in the output column where you want your results to start (e.g., cell X1). Copy and paste the formula provided above. Press Enter. Once implemented correctly, this formula will automatically convert all time entries from column D into seconds, populating your output column with the results dynamically as new entries are added. Conclusion Using ARRAYFORMULA in Google Sheets can greatly enhance your efficiency when working with time-based data. With just one formula, you can handle all entries in a column, streamlining your data processing tasks. Give it a try and watch your repetitive tasks transform into seamless calculations! This methodology not only saves time but also minimizes the risk of errors that can occur when managing multiple formulas in a sheet. Happy spreadsheeting!