How to use the military time converter
- Standard → military: type a 12-hour time with AM or PM — 2:30 PM, 7 am, 1215am and 11:59:30 p.m. all work, as do the words noon and midnight.
- Military → standard: switch the direction and type a military time: 0730, 730, 19:45, 1945 hours, six digits for seconds (143015) or a time ending in Z for Zulu (UTC) time.
- Read the answer, how to say it out loud and the decimal hours for a time sheet. Below the answer, the clock shows the military time right now on your device, ticking every second, and the button converts it.
How to convert standard time to military time
- From 1:00 AM to 11:59 AM: remove the colon and AM and write the hour with two digits. 7:30 AM becomes 0730, 11:05 AM becomes 1105.
- From 1:00 PM to 11:59 PM: add 12 to the hour. 4:24 PM becomes 4 + 12 = 16 → 1624; 9:00 PM becomes 2100.
- The two 12s are the trap: 12:00 PM (noon) stays 1200, but 12:00 AM (midnight) becomes 0000, and 12:45 AM is 0045.
How to convert military time to standard time
If the first two digits are 13 or more, subtract 12 and add PM: 1715 is 17 − 12 = 5, so 5:15 PM. From 0100 to 1159, drop the leading zero and add AM: 0645 is 6:45 AM. 1200 to 1259 is PM without subtracting, and 0000 to 0059 is the 12 o’clock hour after midnight: 0020 is 12:20 AM.
Military time chart
Every hour of the day on the 12-hour clock, in military time, on the 24-hour clock and the way it is spoken:
| Standard time | Military time | 24-hour clock | How to say it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 AM (midnight) | 0000 | 00:00 | zero hundred hours |
| 1:00 AM | 0100 | 01:00 | zero one hundred hours |
| 2:00 AM | 0200 | 02:00 | zero two hundred hours |
| 3:00 AM | 0300 | 03:00 | zero three hundred hours |
| 4:00 AM | 0400 | 04:00 | zero four hundred hours |
| 5:00 AM | 0500 | 05:00 | zero five hundred hours |
| 6:00 AM | 0600 | 06:00 | zero six hundred hours |
| 7:00 AM | 0700 | 07:00 | zero seven hundred hours |
| 8:00 AM | 0800 | 08:00 | zero eight hundred hours |
| 9:00 AM | 0900 | 09:00 | zero nine hundred hours |
| 10:00 AM | 1000 | 10:00 | ten hundred hours |
| 11:00 AM | 1100 | 11:00 | eleven hundred hours |
| 12:00 PM (noon) | 1200 | 12:00 | twelve hundred hours |
| 1:00 PM | 1300 | 13:00 | thirteen hundred hours |
| 2:00 PM | 1400 | 14:00 | fourteen hundred hours |
| 3:00 PM | 1500 | 15:00 | fifteen hundred hours |
| 4:00 PM | 1600 | 16:00 | sixteen hundred hours |
| 5:00 PM | 1700 | 17:00 | seventeen hundred hours |
| 6:00 PM | 1800 | 18:00 | eighteen hundred hours |
| 7:00 PM | 1900 | 19:00 | nineteen hundred hours |
| 8:00 PM | 2000 | 20:00 | twenty hundred hours |
| 9:00 PM | 2100 | 21:00 | twenty-one hundred hours |
| 10:00 PM | 2200 | 22:00 | twenty-two hundred hours |
| 11:00 PM | 2300 | 23:00 | twenty-three hundred hours |
Minutes carry over unchanged: 3:17 PM is 1517, 6:59 AM is 0659. Seconds, when needed, follow as two more digits — 2:30:15 PM is 143015.
How to say military time
Military time is read in two pairs of digits followed by “hours.” A full hour is spoken as “hundred”: 1400 is “fourteen hundred hours,” 1000 is “ten hundred hours” (never “one thousand”). Other times are read as two numbers: 1430 is “fourteen thirty hours,” 2359 is “twenty-three fifty-nine hours.” A leading zero is spoken: 0800 is “zero eight hundred hours” — in casual speech often “oh eight hundred” — and 0905 is “zero nine zero five hours.” Midnight, 0000, is “zero hundred hours.” In everyday use the word “hours” is often dropped.
Midnight: 0000 or 2400?
Midnight at the start of a day is 0000, and the day runs to 2359. Some schedules, rosters and contracts write 2400 for midnight at the end of a day, so a shift “from 1600 to 2400” ends at the same moment as “0000 on the next day.” The time after 2359 is never 2401: one minute after midnight is 0001.
Zulu time and military time zones
Military and aviation messages add a letter for the time zone, spoken with the NATO alphabet. Z (“Zulu”) is UTC, the reference time used worldwide, so 1430Z is 14:30 UTC — 10:30 AM in New York in summer. Enter a time ending in Z above and the converter shows it in your own time zone. The letters A to M (without J) are the zones east of UTC, N to Y the zones west of it:
| Letter | Name | Offset | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Z | Zulu | UTC±0 | UTC (Greenwich Mean Time in winter) |
| Q | Quebec | UTC−4 | Eastern Daylight Time, Atlantic Standard Time |
| R | Romeo | UTC−5 | Eastern Standard Time (New York, winter) |
| S | Sierra | UTC−6 | Central Standard Time (Chicago, winter) |
| T | Tango | UTC−7 | Mountain Standard Time, Arizona |
| U | Uniform | UTC−8 | Pacific Standard Time (Los Angeles, winter) |
| W | Whiskey | UTC−10 | Hawaii |
| A | Alpha | UTC+1 | Central European Time (winter) |
| J | Juliett | — | the observer’s local time |
For other places, use the time zone converter or the world clock.
Common mistakes
- Adding AM or PM: “1430 PM” is redundant — the 24-hour number already says it is afternoon.
- Mixing up 12 AM and 12 PM: 12 PM is noon (1200), 12 AM is midnight (0000).
- Treating minutes as decimals: 1430 is 14 hours and 30 minutes, which is 14.5 decimal hours, not 14.3. For time sheets and payroll, add durations with the time calculator or the hours calculator.
Frequently asked questions
What is 1700 in military time?
1700 is 5:00 PM: subtract 12 from 17. It is said “seventeen hundred hours.”
What time is 2100 in military time?
2100 is 9:00 PM (21 − 12 = 9), spoken “twenty-one hundred hours.”
How do you write 12:30 AM in military time?
0030. The hour after midnight is hour 00 in military time, so 12:30 AM is 0030 and 12:30 PM is 1230.
Is military time the same as the 24-hour clock?
Yes, the hours are the same. Military time leaves out the colon (1430 instead of 14:30), always uses four digits and is spoken with “hundred” and “hours.”
What is the current military time?
The clock under the converter shows it live from your device’s time zone. For example, if it is 3:20 PM where you are, the military time is 1520.
Last updated: October 19, 2026