» Calculating Absolute Difference between Two Time Values

Problem:

Columns A & B contain pairs of time values from the same day.
We want to create a formula that always subtracts the earlier time from the later one, regardless of which column each is in.

Solution 1:

Use the IF function as shown in the following formula:
=IF(B2>=A2,B2-A2,A2-B2)

Solution 2:

Use the ABS function as shown in the following formula:
=ABS(B2-A2)

Note: Apply hh:mm format to cells containing the formulas.