Military time is the 24-hour clock, where the hours run from 00 at midnight through to 23 for 11 PM. Instead of resetting at noon and using AM and PM, it counts straight through the day, so 2:30 in the afternoon is written 1430. The military time converter turns any 24-hour time into standard time and back, and lists a full chart below.
Reading the hours
For the morning, military time and standard time share the same hours. 0800 is 8:00 AM and 1130 is 11:30 AM. The two points that catch people out are noon and midnight:
- 0000 is midnight, written as 12:00 AM.
- 1200 is noon, written as 12:00 PM.
From 1300 onward you subtract 12 to get the afternoon and evening hours. So 1300 is 1:00 PM, 1745 is 5:45 PM, and 2300 is 11:00 PM.
Converting both ways
To go from military to standard, keep the minutes and adjust the hours: leave them as they are before 1300, or take away 12 from 1300 on, then add AM or PM. To go the other way, add 12 to any PM hour except 12 PM, and turn 12 AM into 00. The military time converter does both directions as you type, and shows the current time in 24-hour form too.
A full chart to keep
The chart below the converter lists every hour from 0000 to 2300 next to its standard time, which makes a handy cheat sheet while the format is still new. You can save it as an image with the Download chart button to print, pin to a board or keep on your phone.
Where it is used
The 24-hour clock is standard for the armed forces, aviation, hospitals, public transport and computing, because a single number for each time of day leaves no room for a mix-up between morning and evening. Once the pattern of subtracting 12 after noon clicks, reading it becomes quick. For working out the gap between two 24-hour times, see how to calculate hours between two times.
