Military Time Converter
Enter a military time (0000-2359) to get the standard 12-hour equivalent, or enter hours, minutes, and AM/PM to convert to military format. Results update as you type, with a step-by-step breakdown and a full reference chart covering every hour of the day.
Formula
Worked example
14:30 military time: hour 14 >= 12, so subtract 12 to get 2, add PM, reattach minutes = 2:30 PM. Reverse: 2:30 PM = 2+12 = 14, minutes stay = 1430.
What is military time?
Military time is a timekeeping convention that counts all 24 hours of the day sequentially from 0000 (midnight) to 2359 (one minute before the next midnight). Unlike the civilian 12-hour clock, it never repeats a number, so there is no need for AM or PM. The format uses four digits with no colon: 0930 means 9 hours and 30 minutes after midnight, and 1430 means 14 hours and 30 minutes after midnight, which is 2:30 in the afternoon. The US armed forces adopted this system in the early 20th century, and it is now standard for the military, emergency services, aviation, rail, hospitals, and any environment where AM/PM ambiguity could cause a dangerous misunderstanding.
How to convert military time to standard time
The conversion depends on whether the hour is before or after noon. For hours from 0000 to 0059, replace 00 with 12 and add AM: 0045 becomes 12:45 AM. For hours from 0100 to 1159, keep the hour as-is and add AM: 0930 becomes 9:30 AM. For hours from 1200 to 1259, keep the hour as 12 and add PM: 1215 becomes 12:15 PM. For hours from 1300 to 2359, subtract 12 from the hour and add PM: 1430 becomes 2:30 PM, and 2300 becomes 11:00 PM. The minutes never change in any direction of conversion, only the hour is affected.
How to convert standard time to military time
Working in the other direction, AM times before noon convert by removing the colon and padding to four digits: 9:30 AM becomes 0930. Midnight (12:00 AM) is the special case, mapping to 0000. For PM times, add 12 to the hour and drop the colon: 2:30 PM becomes 2+12=14, so 1430. Noon (12:00 PM) stays 1200 because 12+0=12 in the PM rule. No seconds are shown in standard military time notation, and the word "hours" is often spoken after the number (0930 is spoken as "zero nine thirty hours").
Military time zones and the letter code system
Military time uses a 26-letter NATO phonetic alphabet to designate time zones around the world. Zulu (Z) is UTC, the global reference. Alpha (A) is UTC+1, Bravo (B) is UTC+2, and so on eastward through Mike (M) at UTC+12. Going west, November (N) is UTC-1, Oscar (O) is UTC-2, down to Yankee (Y) at UTC-12. Local time in a given zone is written with the letter appended: 1430Z means 2:30 PM UTC, and 0900E means 9:00 AM UTC+5 (Echo zone). This system lets operators worldwide communicate a precise moment in time without specifying offset numbers, which reduces the risk of arithmetic errors across time zones.
Military Time Conversion Chart - Full 24 Hours
| Military Time | Standard Time | Period | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0000 | 12:00 AM | AM | Midnight (start of day) |
| 0100 | 1:00 AM | AM | Early morning |
| 0200 | 2:00 AM | AM | Early morning |
| 0300 | 3:00 AM | AM | Early morning |
| 0400 | 4:00 AM | AM | Early morning |
| 0500 | 5:00 AM | AM | Dawn |
| 0600 | 6:00 AM | AM | Morning |
| 0700 | 7:00 AM | AM | Morning |
| 0800 | 8:00 AM | AM | Morning |
| 0900 | 9:00 AM | AM | Morning |
| 1000 | 10:00 AM | AM | Late morning |
| 1100 | 11:00 AM | AM | Late morning |
| 1200 | 12:00 PM | PM | Noon |
| 1300 | 1:00 PM | PM | Afternoon |
| 1400 | 2:00 PM | PM | Afternoon |
| 1500 | 3:00 PM | PM | Afternoon |
| 1600 | 4:00 PM | PM | Afternoon |
| 1700 | 5:00 PM | PM | Late afternoon |
| 1800 | 6:00 PM | PM | Evening |
| 1900 | 7:00 PM | PM | Evening |
| 2000 | 8:00 PM | PM | Evening |
| 2100 | 9:00 PM | PM | Night |
| 2200 | 10:00 PM | PM | Night |
| 2300 | 11:00 PM | PM | Late night |
| 2359 | 11:59 PM | PM | End of day |
Every hour of the day in military format with the standard 12-hour equivalent. Minutes follow the same pattern within each hour.
Frequently asked questions
What does 0000 mean in military time?
0000 (spoken as "zero hundred hours") is midnight, the very start of a new calendar day. Confusingly, midnight at the end of a day is sometimes written as 2400, though 0000 of the following day and 2400 of the current day represent the same instant. In practice, most military and civilian 24-hour systems use 0000 to avoid ambiguity.
What is 1200 in military time?
1200 is noon, the midpoint of the day. It corresponds to 12:00 PM in standard time. Do not subtract 12 here: 1200 military is 12:00 PM, not 12:00 AM. The subtraction rule only applies to hours 1300 and later.
How do you say military time out loud?
Each digit is read individually and the word "hours" is added at the end. 0900 is "zero nine hundred hours," 1430 is "fourteen thirty hours," and 0045 is "zero zero forty-five hours." Hours that end in 00 are called "hundred hours" (e.g., 1700 = "seventeen hundred hours"), while hours with non-zero minutes name both parts (1730 = "seventeen thirty hours").
What is the difference between military time and 24-hour time?
They represent the same underlying values but differ in formatting and pronunciation. The civilian 24-hour clock is written with a colon (14:30) and spoken as "fourteen thirty." Military time is written without a colon (1430), always uses four digits, and is spoken with "hours" appended. Midnight is 00:00 in civilian 24-hour notation but 0000 in military. The math is identical.
Who uses military time besides the military?
Many industries adopt the 24-hour system to eliminate AM/PM errors: hospitals and emergency rooms document medication times and patient events without ambiguity; firefighters, police, and EMS dispatch use it for incident logs; aviation charts, flight plans, and air traffic control use Zulu time (UTC in military notation); railways and shipping use it on timetables; and software systems often store timestamps in UTC expressed as 24-hour values.
What is Zulu time?
Zulu time is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) expressed in military format. The letter Z (Zulu in the NATO phonetic alphabet) designates the UTC+0 time zone. When a military message, flight plan, or weather report cites a time followed by Z, it means that time in UTC regardless of the local time zone. Converting to your local time requires adding or subtracting your UTC offset.
How do I convert 1500 military time to standard time?
1500 is in the afternoon block (1300-2359), so subtract 12 from the hour: 15 - 12 = 3. The minutes are 00. Add PM: 1500 = 3:00 PM.