On this page
Formula
Military hour = 12-hour hour (AM, except 12 AM → 00) or 12-hour hour + 12 (PM, except 12 PM → 12); 12-hour hour = military hour − 12 when it is 13 or more
- 12-hour hour
- the hour on a 12-hour clock, from 1 to 12, followed by AM or PM
- Military hour
- the hour on a 24-hour clock, from 00 to 23, written as two digits
What the converter does
The military time converter works in both directions:
- Standard to military. Enter the hour, the minutes and AM or PM, and get the four-digit military time, such as 1620.
- Military to standard. Enter a military time such as 1805 and get the 12-hour time, 6:05 PM.
Each result from the military time converter also shows the time on a 24-hour clock with a colon, how the time is spoken (“eighteen zero five hours”) and a full military time chart with the current hour marked.
How to use it
- Choose the direction.
- For standard to military, enter the hour (1 to 12), the minutes (0 to 59) and pick AM or PM.
- For military to standard, type the four digits. Leading zeros are optional, so 0645 and 645 both work.
The result updates as you type. If the last two digits of a military time are 60 or more, the converter asks you to fix them, because minutes only go up to 59.
How military time works
Military time counts the hours of the day from 00 to 23 instead of running from 1 to 12 twice. The day starts at 0000 (midnight) and the last minute is 2359. There is no AM or PM, because each hour has its own number. That is why the military, hospitals, airlines, emergency services and many payroll systems use it: 0700 and 1900 can never be confused, while 7:00 can mean morning or evening.
Written military time has four digits and no colon. Hours below 10 get a leading zero, so 7:00 AM is 0700, not 700.
How to calculate military time from standard time
The rule depends on AM or PM:
- 1 AM to 11:59 AM. Keep the hour and add a leading zero if it has one digit. 6:45 AM → 0645.
- 12 AM (midnight hour). The hour becomes 00. 12:40 AM → 0040.
- 12 PM (noon hour). The hour stays 12. 12:10 PM → 1210.
- 1 PM to 11:59 PM. Add 12 to the hour. 4:20 PM → 4 + 12 = 16 → 1620.
The minutes never change. Only the hour is converted.
How to convert military time to standard time
Reverse the steps:
- 0000 to 0059. The 12 AM hour. 0025 → 12:25 AM.
- 0100 to 1159. Drop any leading zero and add AM. 0645 → 6:45 AM.
- 1200 to 1259. The 12 PM hour. 1215 → 12:15 PM.
- 1300 to 2359. Subtract 12 from the hour and add PM. 1805 → 18 − 12 = 6 → 6:05 PM.
Military time chart
| Standard time | Military time | Spoken |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00 AM (midnight) | 0000 | zero hundred hours |
| 1:00 AM | 0100 | zero one hundred hours |
| 2:00 AM | 0200 | zero two hundred hours |
| 3:00 AM | 0300 | zero three hundred hours |
| 4:00 AM | 0400 | zero four hundred hours |
| 5:00 AM | 0500 | zero five hundred hours |
| 6:00 AM | 0600 | zero six hundred hours |
| 7:00 AM | 0700 | zero seven hundred hours |
| 8:00 AM | 0800 | zero eight hundred hours |
| 9:00 AM | 0900 | zero nine hundred hours |
| 10:00 AM | 1000 | ten hundred hours |
| 11:00 AM | 1100 | eleven hundred hours |
| 12:00 PM (noon) | 1200 | twelve hundred hours |
| 1:00 PM | 1300 | thirteen hundred hours |
| 2:00 PM | 1400 | fourteen hundred hours |
| 3:00 PM | 1500 | fifteen hundred hours |
| 4:00 PM | 1600 | sixteen hundred hours |
| 5:00 PM | 1700 | seventeen hundred hours |
| 6:00 PM | 1800 | eighteen hundred hours |
| 7:00 PM | 1900 | nineteen hundred hours |
| 8:00 PM | 2000 | twenty hundred hours |
| 9:00 PM | 2100 | twenty-one hundred hours |
| 10:00 PM | 2200 | twenty-two hundred hours |
| 11:00 PM | 2300 | twenty-three hundred hours |
For any time between the hours, keep the minutes as they are: 3:52 PM is 1552.
Noon and midnight
12 AM and 12 PM confuse people more than any other times. The National Institute of Standards and Technology points out that both labels are technically ambiguous, because noon is neither before nor after noon. Military time avoids the problem entirely: midnight is 0000 and noon is 1200.
In everyday US usage, and in this military time converter, 12 AM means midnight at the start of the day and 12 PM means noon. A shift that “ends at 12 AM” on Friday ends at 0000 on Saturday, which some schedules write as 2400 Friday.
Real-life uses
- Timesheets and payroll. Many time clocks record punches in military time. Convert them with the military time converter before totaling hours, or enter them directly into the hours calculator or the time card calculator.
- Healthcare. Medication and charting times are recorded on the 24-hour clock to prevent AM/PM errors.
- Travel. Airline, train and international schedules use 24-hour times.
- Military and emergency services, where an ambiguous time can cause real harm.
Common mistakes
- Writing 12 AM as 1200. Midnight is 0000; 1200 is noon.
- Adding 12 to 12 PM. Noon stays 1200. There is no 2400 noon.
- Dropping the leading zero. 0705 is correct military time; 705 is easy to misread.
- Subtracting 12 from morning hours. Only hours 13 to 23 need subtracting.
Worked examples
An afternoon time
2:45 PM converted to military time by adding 12 to the hour.
Inputs (Standard to military): Hour = 2; Minutes = 45; AM or PM = PM
PM hours from 1 to 11: add 12 → 2 + 12 = 14 Write the hour and minutes as four digits with no colon: 1445
Answer: 2:45 PM = 1445 in military time (14:45 on a 24-hour clock), spoken “fourteen forty-five hours”.
A morning time with a leading zero
9:05 AM, a single-digit morning hour that needs a leading zero.
Inputs (Standard to military): Hour = 9; Minutes = 5; AM or PM = AM
AM hours from 1 to 11 keep their number: 9 → 09 Write the hour and minutes as four digits with no colon: 0905
Answer: 9:05 AM = 0905 in military time (09:05 on a 24-hour clock), spoken “zero nine zero five hours”.
Just after midnight
12:15 AM, a quarter past midnight. The 12 AM hour becomes 00, not 12.
Inputs (Standard to military): Hour = 12; Minutes = 15; AM or PM = AM
12 AM is midnight, so the hour becomes 00 Write the hour and minutes as four digits with no colon: 0015
Answer: 12:15 AM = 0015 in military time (00:15 on a 24-hour clock), spoken “zero zero fifteen hours”.
An evening military time
1930 hours converted back to the 12-hour clock by subtracting 12 from the hour.
Inputs (Military to standard): Military time = 1930
Hours 13 to 23: subtract 12 → 19 − 12 = 7 PM Keep the minutes and add a colon: 7:30 PM
Answer: 7:30 PM = 1930 in military time (19:30 on a 24-hour clock), spoken “nineteen thirty hours”.
The last minute of the day
2359, the last minute before midnight on the military clock.
Inputs (Military to standard): Military time = 2359
Hours 13 to 23: subtract 12 → 23 − 12 = 11 PM Keep the minutes and add a colon: 11:59 PM
Answer: 11:59 PM = 2359 in military time (23:59 on a 24-hour clock), spoken “twenty-three fifty-nine hours”.
Assumptions and limitations
- Military time is written as four digits without a colon, from 0000 (midnight) to 2359 (one minute before the next midnight). The 24-hour clock column shows the same time with a colon, as used in most civilian settings.
- 12 AM is midnight (0000) and 12 PM is noon (1200), following the common US convention.
- Midnight at the end of a day, sometimes written 2400, is not accepted as an input. Enter 0000 for midnight.
- Seconds and time zones are not converted. Military time zones such as Zulu (UTC) are a separate system.
Frequently asked questions
How do you convert regular time to military time?
For AM times, keep the hour and add a leading zero if needed, so 6:45 AM is 0645; 12 AM becomes 00. For PM times, add 12 to the hour, so 4:20 PM is 1620; 12 PM stays 1200. Then drop the colon.
How do you convert military time to standard time?
If the hour is 13 or more, subtract 12 and add PM, so 1805 is 6:05 PM. If it is 01 to 11, drop the leading zero and add AM. 00 is the 12 AM hour and 12 is the 12 PM hour.
What is 0000 in military time?
0000 is midnight, the start of the day, which is 12:00 AM. It is spoken as "zero hundred hours". 0030 is 12:30 AM, half an hour after midnight.
Is 2400 a valid military time?
Some organizations write 2400 for midnight at the end of a day, so a shift can run from 1600 to 2400. It means the same moment as 0000 on the next day. Most systems, and this converter, use 0000 instead.
How do you say military time out loud?
Read the first two digits and the last two digits as numbers and add "hours". 1430 is "fourteen thirty hours", 0900 is "zero nine hundred hours" and 0705 is "zero seven zero five hours". Leading zeros are spoken as "zero".
Is military time the same as 24-hour time?
They count hours the same way. The difference is mostly in how they are written. Military time drops the colon (1430), while the civilian 24-hour clock usually keeps it (14:30).
Sources
- Times of Day FAQs — National Institute of Standards and Technology. Checked October 10, 2026.
- 24-hour clock — Wikipedia. Checked October 10, 2026.