PHP Calculate Difference Between Two Dates in Hours, Minutes and Seconds

There are many date functions and methods in PHP that you can use to get the time difference between two or more dates. Sometimes, you need to calculate or find the time difference between two dates PHP.

If you know the functions and methods to calculate the time difference in PHP. Then it is very simple for you to calculate the time difference between two dates. But, In this tutorial, you have learned simple and easy ways how to calculate/find the time difference between two dates in hours and minutes, and seconds with PHP.

PHP Calculate the Difference Between Two Dates in Hours, Minutes, and Seconds

Using the following methods and examples, you can calculate/find the time difference between two dates in hours and minutes, and seconds with PHP:

Method 1: Using the DateTime object with Diff()
Method 2: Using the strtotime() function with gmdate()
Method 3: Using the strtotime() function with date_diff()

Method 1: Using the DateTime object with Diff()

To calculate/get time difference between two dates using dateTime object and diff() function.

Here is an example to calculate the time difference in hours, minutes and seconds between two dates using dateTime object and diff() function:

$date1 = new DateTime('2022-01-01 00:00:00');
$date2 = new DateTime('2022-01-02 12:30:15');
$interval = $date1->diff($date2);
echo $interval->format('%H hours, %i minutes, %s seconds');

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Method 2: Using the strtotime() function with gmdate()

Using the strtotime and gmdate() function, you calculate the time difference in hours, minutes and seconds between two dates.

Here is an example to calculate the time difference in hours, minutes, and seconds between two dates using the strtotime and gmdate() function:

$date1 = strtotime('2022-01-01 00:00:00');
$date2 = strtotime('2022-01-02 12:30:15');
$diff = $date2 - $date1;
echo gmdate('H hours, i minutes, s seconds', $diff);

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Method 3: Using the strtotime() function with date_diff()

To calculate time difference between two dates in hours, minutes and seconds using date_diff() and strtotime() in PHP.

Here is an example to calculate the time difference in hours, minutes, and seconds between two dates using the strtotime and date_diff() function:

$date1 = strtotime('2022-04-27 10:00:00');
$date2 = strtotime('2022-04-27 11:30:00');
$diff = abs($date2 - $date1);
$interval = date_diff(date_create("@$date1"), date_create("@$date2"));
$hours = $interval->format('%h');
$minutes = $interval->format('%i');
$seconds = $interval->format('%s');
echo "The time difference is: $hours hours, $minutes minutes, and $seconds seconds.";

Conclusion

Calculating the time difference between two dates in PHP is a simple process that involves getting the dates, calculating the time difference, and getting the hours, minutes, and seconds. With the built-in functions in PHP, you can easily perform this task and display the result to the user.