Excel: How to Format Time with Milliseconds

You can format time values in Excel to display milliseconds by using the Format Cells option and specifying hh:mm:ss.000 as the custom time format.

Excel time format with milliseconds

The following step-by-step example shows how to display milliseconds in practice.

Example: Format Time with Milliseconds in Excel

First, let’s enter a list of times into column A:

Note: We actually entered these times with milliseconds but Excel displays the time without milliseconds by default.

Next, highlight the cells in the range A2:A8, then right click and choose Format Cells from the dropdown menu:

In the new window that appears, click Custom from the Category list, then type hh:mm:ss.000 in the Type box:

Excel time format with milliseconds

Once you click OK, each of the time values in column A will now display milliseconds:

Note: We used the formula hh:mm:ss.000 in the Type box to tell Excel to display hours (hh), then minutes (mm), then seconds (ss), then milliseconds (.000) with three decimal places.