Military time is the 24-hour clock written as four digits with no colon and no AM or PM: 0600 for 6:00 in the morning, 1745 for 5:45 in the evening. It is used by the armed forces, aviation, hospitals, police and fire dispatch, and in most countries outside the US, because it removes any doubt about morning versus evening. This converter goes both ways, shows how to say the time and explains the rule it applied.
How to use the military time converter
- Choose Standard → military or Military → standard.
- For standard time, type the time with AM or PM — 5:45 PM, 7 am or 12:30 a.m. all work.
- For military time, type four digits such as 0600 or 1745; 17:45 with a colon is accepted too.
- Read the result, the 24-hour clock form, the 12-hour form, the spoken version and the minutes after midnight.
Conversion rules
Standard to military
| Standard time | Rule | Military |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00–12:59 AM | hour becomes 00 | 0000–0059 |
| 1:00–11:59 AM | keep the hour, add a leading zero if needed | 0100–1159 |
| 12:00–12:59 PM | keep 12 | 1200–1259 |
| 1:00–11:59 PM | add 12 to the hour | 1300–2359 |
Military to standard
Hours 13 to 23: subtract 12 and add PM. Hour 12: keep it and add PM. Hours 01 to 11: drop the leading zero and add AM. Hour 00: write 12 and add AM.
Worked examples
5:45 PM → military. It is PM and not the noon hour, so 5 + 12 = 17. Drop the colon: 1745, said "seventeen forty-five."
12:05 AM → military. The 12 AM hour is hour 00, so the result is 0005.
2130 → standard. 21 − 12 = 9, so 9:30 PM.
0830 → standard. Drop the leading zero: 8:30 AM.
How to say military time
| Military | Spoken |
|---|---|
| 0000 | zero hundred (midnight) |
| 0030 | zero zero thirty |
| 0600 | zero six hundred |
| 0905 | zero nine zero five |
| 1200 | twelve hundred |
| 1300 | thirteen hundred |
| 1745 | seventeen forty-five |
| 2359 | twenty-three fifty-nine |
The word “hours” is often added — “thirteen hundred hours” — especially in formal or radio use. Many civilians simply say “seventeen forty-five.”
Mistakes to avoid
- Adding 12 to 12 PM. Noon is 1200, not 2400.
- Adding 12 to AM times. 9:00 AM is 0900, not 2100.
- Dropping the leading zero. 0700 is the standard form; 700 can be misread.
- Writing “1700 PM.” Military time never takes AM or PM.
- Assuming 2400 is a valid start time. Shifts start at 0000; 2400 only marks the end of a day.
Military time and time cards
Payroll and scheduling systems often store punches in 24-hour time because subtraction is easier: a shift from 0730 to 1615 is 16:15 − 7:30 = 8:45. For overnight work, add 24 hours to the end — 2200 to 0630 is 30:30 − 22:00 = 8:30. The hours calculator does this for you, and the military time chart lists every hour and quarter hour. To convert to UTC for aviation or military messages, use the Zulu time converter.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert PM times to military time?
Add 12 to the hour and drop the colon. 5:45 PM becomes 17 and 45, written 1745. The only exception is 12 PM (noon), which stays 1200.
How do I convert military time to standard time?
If the hour is 13 or more, subtract 12 and add PM: 1930 becomes 7:30 PM. Hours 01 to 11 are AM, hour 12 is PM, and hour 00 becomes 12 AM — so 0015 is 12:15 AM.
What is midnight in military time?
Midnight is 0000, the start of a new day. Some schedules write 2400 to mean the end of a day; 2400 on Monday is the same moment as 0000 on Tuesday.
How do you say military time out loud?
Say the two-digit hour and then the minutes: 1745 is 'seventeen forty-five'. Whole hours use 'hundred' (0600 is 'zero six hundred'), and a leading zero is spoken as 'zero'. 'Hours' is often added at the end.
Does military time use a colon?
Strict military style writes four digits with no colon (1745). Civilian 24-hour time, common in hospitals and outside the US, writes 17:45. Both mean the same time.