Time Format Converter
Convert between 12-hour and 24-hour notation in either direction.
Conversion table
How it works
The converter reads a time written in twelve-hour, twenty-four-hour or four-digit military notation and rewrites it in the others. It accepts the forms people actually type — 7pm, 07:30 PM, 1930, 19.30 — rather than insisting on one shape, because the point is to remove friction rather than teach a syntax.
Midnight and noon are where twelve-hour notation fails, and it fails often. 12:00 AM is midnight and 12:00 PM is noon, so the sequence runs 11:59 AM, then 12:00 PM, then 12:01 PM. Enough people find that counter-intuitive that timetables and contracts routinely sidestep it by writing "12 noon" and "12 midnight" instead.
In twenty-four-hour notation midnight is 00:00 at the start of a day. ISO 8601 also permits 24:00 to denote the end of the previous day; the two name the same instant and the distinction is occasionally useful when a period must close at the boundary rather than open there.
Military notation drops the colon and is always twenty-four hour, so 0930 is half past nine in the morning and is read as digits rather than as a number.
Examples
07:30 PM to 24-hour. 19:30. Add twelve to any PM hour except twelve itself, which is the exception that causes the trouble.
Reading military notation. 0930 is half past nine in the morning; 1930 is half past seven at night. There is no colon and it is always twenty-four hour.
The midnight case. 12:00 AM is the start of the day and 12:00 PM is midday. If a schedule matters, write 00:00 and 12:00 instead and remove the ambiguity entirely.
Practical notes
Midnight and noon are where twelve-hour notation fails most often. 12:00 AM is midnight and 12:00 PM is noon, so the sequence runs 11:59 AM, 12:00 PM, 12:01 PM. Timetables and contracts routinely avoid the whole question by writing "12 noon" and "12 midnight", or by using twenty-four-hour notation throughout.
Four-digit military notation drops the colon and is always twenty-four hour, so 0930 is half past nine in the morning and 1930 is half past seven at night. It is read as digits rather than as a number.
In twenty-four-hour notation, 00:00 opens a day and 24:00 closes the previous one. ISO 8601 permits both and they name the same instant, which is occasionally useful when a period needs to end at the boundary rather than begin there.
Frequently asked questions
What is 7 PM in 24-hour time?
19:00. Add 12 to any PM hour except 12 PM, which stays 12:00.
Is midnight 00:00 or 24:00?
Both notations exist in ISO 8601: 00:00 starts a day and 24:00 ends the previous one. In everyday use 00:00 is the safer choice.
What is military time?
The 24-hour clock written without a colon, so 19:30 becomes 1930.
Is midnight 12 AM or 12 PM?
12:00 AM. AM runs from midnight to noon, so the day begins at 12:00 AM and noon is 12:00 PM. If clarity matters, write 00:00 or "12 midnight".
What is the difference between 00:00 and 24:00?
They are the same instant described from different sides. 24:00 closes one day, 00:00 opens the next; ISO 8601 permits both.
Is 12:00 PM noon or midnight?
Noon. AM runs from midnight to noon, so the day starts at 12:00 AM. Where clarity matters, write 00:00 and 12:00 instead.
Which format should a schedule use?
Twenty-four hour, for anything international or safety-related. It has no AM/PM ambiguity and no midnight edge case.
Why do some countries use 24-hour time?
Because it removes the AM/PM ambiguity entirely. Most of the world uses it in writing, and aviation, medicine and the military use it everywhere for exactly that reason.
Is 24:00 a valid time?
Yes, under ISO 8601, denoting the end of a day. It names the same instant as 00:00 the following morning.
How do I read 0000 in military time?
It is midnight, the start of the day. Some services write 2400 for the end of the previous day instead, and both are in use, which is a good reason to prefer an explicit date alongside.
Which format do most countries use?
Twenty-four hour notation in writing, including most of Europe, Latin America and Asia. Twelve-hour notation dominates in everyday speech in the United States, Canada, Australia and the UK.
Guides on this topic
- What Unix time is, and what it is not What a Unix timestamp counts, why it is the same in every time zone, how leap seconds and milliseconds fit in, and where 32-bit systems run out.
- ISO 8601, the date format that sorts itself How to read and write ISO 8601 dates, times, offsets, week dates, ordinal dates and durations, what the Z means, and how RFC 3339 differs.