About the Military Time Converter
Military time is the 24-hour clock, written as four digits without a colon — 0630, 1430, 2200 — and usually followed by the word "hours". It is used by armed forces, hospitals, emergency services, aviation, public transport and computer systems, and it is simply the normal way of telling time in most countries. Its great advantage is that it never needs am or pm: 0700 and 1900 cannot be confused, which matters when a mistake could mean a missed flight or a wrongly timed dose of medicine.
This military time converter turns 12-hour am/pm time into military time and military time into 12-hour time. It also shows how the time is spoken, such as "fourteen thirty", and explains the rule used for the conversion.
How to Use the Military Time Converter
Choose 12-hour to military or Military to 12-hour.
Enter a 12-hour time with am or pm, such as 2:30 pm, or a four-digit military time, such as 1430.
The conversion appears immediately.
The Rules
12-hour → military:
12:xx am (midnight hour) → 00xx
1:00 am to 11:59 am → same hour, with a leading zero: 0100–1159
12:xx pm (noon hour) → 12xx
1:00 pm to 11:59 pm → add 12 to the hour: 1300–2359
military → 12-hour:
00xx → 12:xx am
0100–1159 → same hour, am
12xx → 12:xx pm
1300–2359 → subtract 12, pmStep-by-Step Examples
2:30 pm to military time.
pm and not 12 → add 12: 2 + 12 = 14
= 1430 hours, said "fourteen thirty"0630 to 12-hour time.
06 is before 12 → morning, same hour
= 6:30 am, said "zero six thirty"1800 to 12-hour time.
18 − 12 = 6 → 6:00 pm, said "eighteen hundred"Military Time Chart
12-hour Military 12-hour Military
12:00 am 0000 12:00 pm 1200
1:00 am 0100 1:00 pm 1300
2:00 am 0200 2:00 pm 1400
3:00 am 0300 3:00 pm 1500
4:00 am 0400 4:00 pm 1600
5:00 am 0500 5:00 pm 1700
6:00 am 0600 6:00 pm 1800
7:00 am 0700 7:00 pm 1900
8:00 am 0800 8:00 pm 2000
9:00 am 0900 9:00 pm 2100
10:00 am 1000 10:00 pm 2200
11:00 am 1100 11:00 pm 2300How Military Time Is Spoken
Military times are read as two pairs of digits. Whole hours use "hundred": 0800 is "zero eight hundred" and 1500 is "fifteen hundred" — never "one thousand five hundred". Other times read the hour then the minutes: 1430 is "fourteen thirty" and 2145 is "twenty-one forty-five". A leading zero is said "zero" or, informally, "oh": 0630 is "zero six thirty". Midnight is "zero hundred" and noon "twelve hundred". The word "hours" is often added in formal speech.
The Trouble With 12 am and 12 pm
The hour from 12:00 to 12:59 is the one people most often get wrong. 12 pm is noon, so it stays 12 in military time: 12:30 pm is 1230. 12 am is midnight, so it becomes 00: 12:30 am is 0030. Because "12 am" and "12 pm" confuse so many people, schedules and contracts often write "noon" and "midnight" instead, or use 24-hour time to remove the doubt entirely.
Midnight: 0000 or 2400?
Midnight at the start of a day is 0000. Some schedules write the end of a day as 2400, so that an event running "until 2400 on 5 May" ends at the same moment as 0000 on 6 May. The converter accepts 2400 and treats it as midnight. Timetables often avoid the ambiguity by using 2359 or 0001 instead.
Military Time and Time Zones
The armed forces often attach a letter to show the time zone. Zulu time (Z) is UTC: 1430Z is 14:30 UTC. Local times carry other letters, and the phonetic alphabet gives each one a name. Converting between zones is a separate step; use the time zone converter to change 1430Z into a local time.
Why the 24-Hour Clock Is Safer
In a hospital, a medication chart that says "give at 8" could mean 8 am or 8 pm; "0800" cannot. Airlines, railways and ferry operators publish timetables in 24-hour time so that a departure at 2105 is never mistaken for one at 9:05 in the morning. Computer systems store times in 24-hour form for the same reason, and data exchanged between countries almost always uses it. Most of Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America use the 24-hour clock in everyday life, especially in writing, while the 12-hour clock remains common in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, India and Pakistan for casual use.
Quick Mental Conversion
To convert an afternoon or evening time in your head, add 12 to the hour: 3 pm is 15, 7:45 pm is 1945. To go back, subtract 12 from any hour above 12: 1700 is 5 pm, 2230 is 10:30 pm. A handy check is that afternoon military times always start with 1 or 2 and are 1300 or greater. Morning times are the same as on a 12-hour clock, apart from the leading zero and the midnight hour.
Military Time in Everyday Use
Even outside the armed forces, many people meet 24-hour time daily: on phones and computers set to the 24-hour format, on train and bus departure boards, on parking tickets and on hospital appointment letters. Learning to read it fluently takes only the add-or-subtract-12 rule and a little practice.
Understanding Your Result
The headline gives the converted time.
The military line gives the four-digit time with hours and the colon form.
The standard line gives the 12-hour time with am or pm.
The spoken line shows how the time is said aloud.
The rule line explains how the hour was converted.
When Should You Use This Calculator?
Use it to read hospital, military, aviation and travel schedules.
Use it to convert shift times between 12-hour and 24-hour formats.
Use it to learn how military times are spoken.
Use it to avoid am/pm mistakes in bookings and plans.
Common Mistakes
Writing 12:30 am as 1230. It is 0030.
Adding 12 to 12 pm. Noon is 1200, not 2400.
Saying "one thousand four hundred". Say "fourteen hundred".
Dropping the leading zero. Write 0630, not 630.