All Tools Verse24-hour time numbers the hours of the day from 00 to 23, so 1 PM is 13:00 and 11 PM is 23:00. To read it as 12-hour time, subtract 12 from any hour above 12 and add PM. The hour 00 is 12 AM, and 12 is 12 PM. Military time is the same clock written without the colon, so 1:00 PM is 1300, said “thirteen hundred”.
In this guide
24-hour time chart
Each row shows the full hour. Minutes do not change between the two formats: 13:45 is 1:45 PM, and 19:05 is 7:05 PM.
| 24-hour | Military | 12-hour |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | 0000 | 12:00 AM |
| 01:00 | 0100 | 1:00 AM |
| 02:00 | 0200 | 2:00 AM |
| 03:00 | 0300 | 3:00 AM |
| 04:00 | 0400 | 4:00 AM |
| 05:00 | 0500 | 5:00 AM |
| 06:00 | 0600 | 6:00 AM |
| 07:00 | 0700 | 7:00 AM |
| 08:00 | 0800 | 8:00 AM |
| 09:00 | 0900 | 9:00 AM |
| 10:00 | 1000 | 10:00 AM |
| 11:00 | 1100 | 11:00 AM |
| 12:00 | 1200 | 12:00 PM |
| 13:00 | 1300 | 1:00 PM |
| 14:00 | 1400 | 2:00 PM |
| 15:00 | 1500 | 3:00 PM |
| 16:00 | 1600 | 4:00 PM |
| 17:00 | 1700 | 5:00 PM |
| 18:00 | 1800 | 6:00 PM |
| 19:00 | 1900 | 7:00 PM |
| 20:00 | 2000 | 8:00 PM |
| 21:00 | 2100 | 9:00 PM |
| 22:00 | 2200 | 10:00 PM |
| 23:00 | 2300 | 11:00 PM |
How to convert in your head
From 24-hour to 12-hour:
- If the hour is 00, write 12 and add AM. So 00:30 is 12:30 AM.
- If the hour is 01 to 11, keep it and add AM. So 09:40 is 9:40 AM.
- If the hour is 12, keep it and add PM. So 12:45 is 12:45 PM.
- If the hour is 13 to 23, subtract 12 and add PM. So 23:59 is 11:59 PM.
From 12-hour to 24-hour, run the same rules backwards. For PM times from 1 to 11, add 12: 7:05 PM is 19:05. For 12 AM, write 00: 12:30 AM is 00:30. For 12 PM, keep 12: 12:15 PM is 12:15. AM times from 1 to 11 only need a leading zero: 9:40 AM is 09:40.
For a whole list of times, paste them into the 12-hour to 24-hour converter, which handles the midnight and noon cases for you. To go the other way, use the 24-hour to 12-hour converter.
A memory trick for the afternoon: take the second digit of the hour and subtract 2. 14:00 is 4 minus 2, so 2 PM. 19:00 is 9 minus 2, so 7 PM. It works from 13:00 to 19:00. From 20:00 on, just subtract 12.
Midnight, noon and 24:00
Midnight and noon cause most of the confusion in 12-hour time. 12 AM is midnight, the start of the day. 12 PM is noon. Many people mix them up, which is why airlines, hospitals and train timetables avoid 12-hour times.
In 24-hour time, midnight at the start of a day is 00:00. You will also see 24:00 used for the end of a day, as in a shop that is open “08:00 to 24:00”. 24:00 on Monday and 00:00 on Tuesday are the same moment. The day after 23:59 starts again at 00:00, never at 24:01.
If you need the time as a single number, count the seconds since 00:00. Noon is 43,200 seconds, 14:30 is 52,200 and 18:00 is 64,800. The seconds to time converter turns those numbers back into hours, minutes and seconds.
How military time is written and spoken
- Always four digits, no colon. 6:00 AM is 0600, and 9:30 AM is 0930. The leading zero stays.
- Full hours are said as “hundred”. 0600 is “zero six hundred”, and 1300 is “thirteen hundred”. People say “hours” after it in formal speech: “thirteen hundred hours”.
- Other times are said as two pairs. 1430 is “fourteen thirty”, and 0915 is “zero nine fifteen”.
- A letter can mark the time zone. Z stands for UTC, called “Zulu” time, so 1430Z means 14:30 UTC.
Outside the military, most of the world writes times in the 24-hour format. It is also the format of the ISO 8601 date and time standard. The 12-hour clock is the everyday habit mainly in the United States and some other English-speaking countries.
Common mistakes
- Writing 12:30 AM as 12:30. Half past midnight is 00:30. 12:30 in 24-hour time is half past noon.
- Adding 12 to 12 PM. Noon is 12:00, not 24:00. The add-12 rule only applies to 1 PM through 11 PM.
- Dropping the leading zero in data. If you store 930 next to 1015, text sorting puts 1015 first. Store 0930 and 1015 and both sort in the right order.
- Working out a night shift by plain subtraction. From 22:00 to 06:30 the clock goes past midnight. Add 24 hours to the end time first: 30:30 minus 22:00 is 8 hours 30 minutes.
For more clock, date and timer tools, see our list of the best free time and date tools.
Frequently asked questions
What is 1700 in military time?
1700 is 5:00 PM. Subtract 12 from 17 to get 5, and add PM.
Is midnight 00:00 or 24:00?
Both, depending on the side of the day. 00:00 is the start of a day, and 24:00 is the end of the previous day. They are the same moment. Most digital clocks only show 00:00.
Why does the military say “hundred hours”?
Because 1300 reads like the number thirteen hundred. Saying it this way avoids AM and PM, which can be misheard over a radio.
What time is 0000 in 12-hour time?
0000 is 12:00 AM, which is midnight. One minute later, 0001, is 12:01 AM.