Convert timedelta to Seconds in Python (Example)

This tutorial explains how to convert a timedelta object into seconds in the Python programming language.

The article will consist of these contents:

Let’s jump right to the tutorial!

Example Data

As a first step, we have to import the datetime module:

import datetime                                    # Load datetime module

Let’s also construct some example data:

dt_1 = datetime.datetime(2023, 12, 5, 10, 30, 47)  # Create first datetime object
print(dt_1)
# 2023-12-05 10:30:47

dt_2 = datetime.datetime(2022, 11, 9, 5, 38, 15)   # Create second datetime object
print(dt_2)
# 2022-11-09 05:38:15

As you can see based on the previous outputs of the Python console, we have just created two datetime objects.

In the next step, I’m going to subtract those two dates and times from each other:

td = dt_1 - dt_2                                   # Subtract datetimes
print(td)                                          # Print timedelta object
# 391 days, 4:52:32

As you can see, our new data object shows 391 days and 4 hours, 52 minutes, and 32 seconds.

Let’s check the data type of this data object:

print(type(td))                                    # Test data type of data object
# <class 'datetime.timedelta'>

We have created a timedelta object.

Example: Transform timedelta Object to Seconds Using total_seconds() Function

The following Python code illustrates how to convert a timedelta object to seconds. For this task, we’ll use the total_seconds function:

td_sec = td.total_seconds()                        # Apply total_seconds function
print(td_sec)                                      # Print seconds
# 33799952.0

As you can see, the corresponding seconds to our example timedelta object are shown in the previous output, i.e. 33799952 seconds.

Video, Further Resources & Summary

Have a look at the following video on my YouTube channel. In the video, I explain the contents of this article in Python.

The YouTube video will be added soon.

In addition, you may want to have a look at some of the other articles on this website. Some articles are listed below.

• Dates & Times in Python – datetime Module
• Introduction to timedelta Objects in Python
• Convert Integer to timedelta in Python
• Calculate Number of Hours, Minutes & Seconds Between Two datetimes
• Add Seconds, Minutes & Hours to datetime Object
• Python Programming Examples

In summary: This page has demonstrated how to transform a timedelta object into seconds in Python. Don’t hesitate to tell me about it in the comments section if you have additional questions. In addition, please subscribe to my email newsletter for regular updates on the newest articles.

This page was created in collaboration with Ömer Ekiz. Have a look at Ömer’s author page to get more information about his professional background, a list of all his tutorials, as well as an overview on his other tasks on Statistics Globe.