How to Convert Seconds, Minutes, Hours and Days
Turning a duration from one unit to another — server timeouts in seconds, video lengths, project estimates — is simple arithmetic, but the chain of factors is easy to fumble.
The conversion chain
- 1 minute = 60 seconds
- 1 hour = 60 minutes = 3,600 seconds
- 1 day = 24 hours = 1,440 minutes = 86,400 seconds
So 7,200 seconds ÷ 3,600 = 2 hours. To go up the chain, divide; to go down, multiply.
Where it's used
Developers meet seconds constantly (timeouts, cache durations, Unix timestamps). 86,400 (seconds in a day) and 3,600 (in an hour) are worth memorising — they show up everywhere in code and configs.
Convert instantly
Our free time converter handles seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and more. To convert between time zones (a different problem), see our time zone guide.
Bottom line
Multiply going down the chain (hours→seconds), divide going up. Memorise 3,600 and 86,400 and most time-unit maths becomes instant — a converter handles the rest, including the awkward weeks-to-seconds jumps.
