A Duration field holds a length of time: days, hours, minutes and seconds. Think of a stopwatch reading, stored as a value you can add up.

Here is the test: is the answer "how long", not "when"? If yes, you want a Duration field. For a point in time, use a Date or Time field. For a running timer with separate entries, use a Time Tracking Log field.

Example: an Incidents table with a field called Time to Resolve. Each incident holds how long it took to close, typed as 3h 45m. A Rollup on the Incident Category table averages it, so the team sees which categories take longest.

The Time to Resolve field in an incident record, showing 3 hrs 45 mins in the Standard format.

The field settings panel opens. It has three tabs: Settings, Defaults and Help Text. There is no AI Field Agent tab on this field type. The rest of this article takes the tabs in that order. Save at any point with Add Field (or Update Field on a field that already exists) and come back to the other tabs later.

The field settings panel, Settings tab, with Display Format, Duration Format, Linked Status Field and Options.

The Settings tab holds how a duration is written, which units it shows and one rule. Top to bottom: Display Format, Duration Format, Linked Status Field and Options.

How the duration looks in a record and in views. The preview box shows a sample; open it to see the three options.

Use Compact in a crowded grid, Standard in a record, Long where the value is read on its own, such as in a document.

Which units the field shows: four checkboxes, Days, Hours, Minutes and Seconds. Hours and Minutes are on to start. A unit that is off is folded into the next one down: with Days off, 1d 2h shows as 26 hrs. The stored value does not change, only how it is written.

For Time to Resolve, turn Days on. An incident that takes two days reads better as 2 days 3 hrs than as 51 hrs.

The Duration Format row with Days, Hours and Minutes checked and Seconds off.

The Status field this duration belongs to. The dropdown starts on the table's first Status field and lists the others. Each Duration field can be linked to one Status field. The link changes nothing else in the product. Time to Resolve points at the Incidents table's Status field.

Require an entry in this field. Off to start. On, a record cannot be saved until a duration is entered. Leave it off for Time to Resolve, because an open incident has no value yet.

Default Duration is the value every new record starts with. Type it the way you would in a record: minutes, hours or days, such as 2h 15m.

Time to Resolve has no default, because the value is known only when the incident closes. A field such as Estimated Effort might default to 4h.

A note for the person filling in the record, up to 800 characters. Help Text Appearance shows it As A Tooltip (the default, behind an info icon next to the field name) or Below The Field Name (always visible).

Write it for someone who has never seen the field. For Time to Resolve: "Time from the incident being raised to the fix being confirmed. Type it as 2d 3h or 45m."

Field Permissions. Every field can carry its own permissions, which control who can see the field and who can edit it. Open the column menu and select Edit Field Permissions. Let the incident team set Time to Resolve while everyone else reads it. See Field Permissions.

Dynamic Record Permissions. A Duration field can also drive record-level rules: who can see or edit a record based on the value it holds. Every field type except Button can drive a rule. See Dynamic Record Permissions.

Once durations are entered, the field answers "how long?" across the table.

In a grid cell, double-click and type the duration in plain words: 1d 2h 30m, 8 hours, 1hr 20mins. Press Enter and the value is stored and shown in the chosen format and units. In a record, the field is a box with the prompt "Type minutes, hours or days". The x on a selected cell clears it.

The operators include equal to, greater than, less than, is empty and is not empty. "Time to Resolve is greater than 4h" lists the incidents that missed a four-hour target. Spotlight uses the same operators, and Find searches the durations as shown, such as 26 hrs.

Group a view by the field and each distinct duration becomes a group. It is most useful with round values, such as estimates of 1h, 2h and 4h.

Sort 1 → 9 or 9 → 1 from the column menu, shortest to longest or the reverse.

A Rollup field on the Incident Category table can average or total Time to Resolve across the linked incidents. A Lookup shows the duration on a linked record, and Linked Record cards can show it. A Count field can filter on it. See Rollup Field.

A formula reads the field as a number of seconds. Divide by 60 for minutes or by 3,600 for hours, so [Time to Resolve] / 3600 gives the hours. Subtracting two date and time fields also gives seconds, so [Closed At] - [Raised At] can fill a duration. To add a duration to a date, pass seconds as the unit:

An Update records or Create a record action can write the field, and can add, subtract, multiply or divide the current value. The value is passed on to later steps, but a condition cannot test it. See Automation Actions explained.

A Duration field can be placed on a form. See Form View.

Change a value in one record. Double-click the cell, type the new duration and press Enter.

Change the units shown. Open Modify Field Settings, check or uncheck units under Duration Format, then Update Field. Every record shows the new units; the stored values do not change.

Change the display format. Pick Compact, Standard or Long under Display Format and select Update Field.

Link to another Status field. Pick it under Linked Status Field and select Update Field.

Change the field type. The dropdown at the top of the panel changes the type. See Changing a Field's Type.

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Last verified 1 Nov 2026.