Military Time Converter: 24-Hour to 12-Hour and Back

Military time chart: all 24 hours

The tricky times around midnight and noon

Military time zone letters

How to convert between military time and 12-hour time

1. Military time to 12-hour time. Hours 01 to 11 stay the same and are AM. 0000 is 12 AM. 1200 is 12 PM. For 1300 to 2300 subtract 12 and call it PM: 1430 is 14 − 12 = 2, so 2:30 PM. The minutes never change.
2. 12-hour time to military time. For AM keep the hour, except 12 AM becomes 00. For PM add 12, except 12 PM stays 12: 2:30 PM is 2 + 12 = 14, so 1430; 12:15 AM is 0015; 12:15 PM is 1215. Pad the hour to two digits (0630, not 630).
3. Say it. Say the two hour digits, then the two minute digits, or “hundred” for :00. 1400 is “fourteen hundred”, 1405 is “fourteen oh five”, 1430 is “fourteen thirty”, and hours 00 to 09 start with “zero”: 0600 is “zero six hundred”.
4. Or let the tool do it. Type the time above in any style. The result shows the same time on both clocks, how to say it, and, if you add a zone letter such as 1430Z, the time in UTC.

Frequently asked questions

What is 1430 in standard time?

1430 hours is 2:30 PM. Subtract 12 from the hour (14 − 12 = 2) and add PM; the minutes stay the same. It is said “fourteen thirty hours”.

Is 12 AM midnight or noon? And 12 PM?

12:00 AM is midnight, 0000, and 12:00 PM is noon, 1200. The 12-hour clock starts a new day at 12 AM and passes through 12 PM in the middle. Because many people mix the two up, “midnight”, “noon” or a 24-hour time says it without doubt. 12:30 AM is 0030 and 12:30 PM is 1230.

What is 2400 in military time, and is it the same as 0000?

2400 means the end of the day: the same instant as 0000 on the following day. Which one is used depends on whether you are naming the end of a day (a closing time) or the start of one (a schedule). This tool accepts 2400 and shows it as 0000; 2401 and later are not valid, so write 0001 instead.

How do you say military time out loud?

Say the hour and minutes as two pairs of digits: 1430 is “fourteen thirty”, 1405 is “fourteen oh five” and 1400 is “fourteen hundred”. Hours 00 to 09 start with “zero”: 0600 is “zero six hundred” and 0605 is “zero six zero five”. The word “hours” is often added at the end. The tool also shows the digit-by-digit radio version, where 3 is “tree”, 5 is “fife” and 9 is “niner” to keep digits clear over a poor connection.

Why do military times have a leading zero?

Military time is written with four digits so that every time has the same shape: 0630, not 630. The leading zero is the first digit of the hour (00 to 09), and it is spoken as “zero”.

What do the letters after a time, like 1430Z, mean?

The letter is a military time zone. Z (Zulu) is UTC itself, so 1430Z is 14:30 UTC. A to I are UTC+1 to UTC+9, K to M are UTC+10 to UTC+12, and N to Y are UTC−1 to UTC−12. For example 1430 in zone A (Alpha, UTC+1) is 1330Z. The table above lists every letter.

Why is there no offset for J (Juliet)?

The letter J is not a fixed zone. It is used for the local time of whoever is writing, so a time marked J cannot be converted to UTC without knowing where it was written. The tool shows it as local time and gives no UTC row. The other letters are fixed whole-hour offsets.

Which time formats can I type?

Four or three digits (1430, 930), a colon or a dot (14:30, 2.30), 12-hour times with am or pm in any case (2:30 pm, 2:30pm, 2.30pm), the words noon and midnight, optional seconds (14:30:15 or 143015), the word “hours”, and an optional zone letter or name (1430Z, 1430 Zulu). Without am or pm a time such as 2:30 is read as 24-hour time, 02:30; add pm for the afternoon.

Why does the tool reject 25:00 or 13:00 pm?

Because they are not valid on either clock. Hours run 00 to 23 on the 24-hour clock, so Hour 25 is out of range: 24-hour times run 00 to 23 (2400 is accepted as the end of the day). The 12-hour clock stops at 12, so 13:00 pm is neither style: 13 PM mixes the two styles: the 12-hour clock stops at 12. Write 13:00 on its own for 24-hour time, or use 1 to 12 with AM or PM.

Is “military time” different from 24-hour time?

The clock is the same: 24 hours, from 00 to 23. “Military time” usually means the 24-hour clock written without a colon (1430), with the leading zero, and spoken in the style described above. The tool shows both writings so you can use whichever your form, schedule or log expects.

Is anything I type sent anywhere?

No. The conversion runs in your browser. The only thing the page reads from your device is its clock, to show the current time in both formats.