What this chart shows
This is a complete reference for reading the 24-hour clock — the format that runs the hours straight through from 00:00 to 23:00 instead of resetting to 12 twice a day. Each row pairs an hour with its 12-hour AM/PM equivalent, so you can glance across and translate a time without doing the arithmetic in your head.
It is for anyone who meets 24-hour time in one place and thinks in 12-hour time everywhere else: a train timetable that says 19:40, a work rota that lists 22:00, a flight booked for 15:05, a server log stamped 02:13. The two hours that trip people up most — 00:00 (midnight) and 12:00 (noon) — are labelled plainly so there is no second-guessing which one is which.
How to read it
Four steps — for a whole time you only ever look at the hour.
- Find the hour in the 24-hour column.Look down the left column for your hour, from 00 through 23.
- Read across to the 12-hour column.The middle column gives the same hour written in 12-hour format, with AM or PM.
- Keep your minutes exactly as they are.Minutes never change between the two systems, so 16:45 is simply 4:45 PM.
- Copy, print, or download it.Use the buttons above the table to copy the chart, print a paper copy for a wall or desk, or save it as a CSV.
The conversion rule
You do not need the chart once the rule clicks. It splits at noon: everything from 00:00 to 11:59 is AM, and everything from 12:00 to 23:59 is PM. The only adjustments are at the two ends.
- Midnight hour (00): write
00as 12 AM. So 00:20 is 12:20 AM. - Morning hours (01–11): keep the number, add AM. 09:15 is 9:15 AM.
- Noon hour (12): keep 12, but it is PM. 12:30 is 12:30 PM.
- Afternoon & evening (13–23): subtract 12, add PM. 18:00 is 6:00 PM; 23:45 is 11:45 PM.
19 — it is past 12, so PM19 − 12 = 7
Minutes stay
4019:40 = 7:40 PM
Going the other way is just as quick: for a PM time, add 12 to the hour (7 PM → 19); for 12 AM use 00, and for 12 PM keep 12. To turn a whole time either direction in one tap, the 24-hour to 12-hour converter on the home page does it live, and the 12-hour to 24-hour converter handles the reverse.
Quick examples with minutes
The chart lists whole hours; these show that the minutes simply ride along.
| 24-hour | 12-hour | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 00:05 | 12:05 AM | Just after midnight |
| 07:30 | 7:30 AM | Mid-morning |
| 12:15 | 12:15 PM | Just after noon |
| 13:45 | 1:45 PM | Early afternoon |
| 20:20 | 8:20 PM | Evening |
| 23:59 | 11:59 PM | Last minute of the day |
If the version you are reading drops the colon and adds the word "hours" — like 0800 or 1730 — that is military time; the military time chart lays out that spoken style row by row.
Where you'll meet 24-hour time
- Travel — rail, bus, and airline timetables almost always use the 24-hour clock so 7:00 can't be mistaken for 19:00.
- Work rotas & shifts — schedules list 06:00–14:00 or 22:00–06:00; to total those hours, the hours calculator handles the overnight case.
- Software & logs — timestamps, cron jobs, and log files record time in 24-hour (ISO 8601) form.
- Healthcare, emergency services & the military — fields where a single misread hour has real consequences default to the 24-hour clock.
- Anywhere international — most of the world writes the time this way, so the chart is handy when a document, ticket, or message comes from abroad.
Need to browse the rest of the reference set? The charts hub collects every quick-reference table on the site.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert 24-hour time to 12-hour time?
For hours from 00:00 to 11:59 the time is AM — but write 00 as 12 (so 00:30 is 12:30 AM). For hours from 12:00 to 23:59 the time is PM — keep 12 as 12 and subtract 12 from every hour after it (so 18:00 is 6:00 PM). The minutes never change.
Is 00:00 midnight or noon?
00:00 is midnight, the start of the day, and reads as 12:00 AM. Noon is 12:00, which reads as 12:00 PM. This is the pair people most often mix up, so both are marked on the chart.
Why does 12:00 become 12:00 PM and not 0:00?
In the 12-hour system there is no zero hour: the clock runs 12, 1, 2 … 11 and then back to 12. So midday stays 12 and is labelled PM, while midnight is 12 AM. The 24-hour clock avoids the confusion by numbering the hours 00 to 23.
Do the minutes change when I convert between formats?
No. Only the hour and the AM/PM label change. The minutes are identical in both systems, so 20:45 is 8:45 PM and 07:05 is 7:05 AM.
Is the 24-hour clock the same as military time?
They use the same 24-hour numbering, but the notation differs. The civilian 24-hour clock writes a colon and leading zero — 08:00, 17:30 — while military time drops the colon and adds "hours" when spoken: 0800, 1730, read as "zero eight hundred" and "seventeen thirty". The military time chart shows that style.
Is the 24-hour clock the same as ISO 8601 time?
Yes. ISO 8601, the international date and time standard, uses the 24-hour clock for the time of day, written as HH:MM or HH:MM:SS. The times in this chart are exactly the time-of-day format ISO 8601 specifies.
Where does the day roll over on the chart?
The 24-hour clock runs from 00:00 up to 23:59, then rolls to 00:00 for the next day. There is no 24:00 in everyday use — one minute after 23:59 is 00:00. The chart lists every hour on the hour across that full cycle.
Accuracy & sources
The chart is a direct mapping, not a calculation: each 24-hour hour is paired with the single 12-hour time it represents, following the plain rule shown in the conversion rule — 00 becomes 12 AM, 12 stays 12 PM, and hours 13–23 have 12 subtracted. Every one of the twenty-four rows was checked by hand against that rule before publishing.
The 24-hour clock notation used here — hours 00 to 23, written HH:MM — is the time-of-day format defined by ISO 8601, the international standard for representing dates and times. Written and reviewed by Fletcher Langley, and re-checked whenever the chart changes — last reviewed August 2026.
About the author
Operations and workforce-systems specialist with 14+ years inside shift-based industries and payroll platforms, and a BS in Industrial Engineering. Fletcher writes and reviews the calculators, converters, and guides here — from overnight-shift math to decimal payroll hours — drawing on years spent translating between 12-hour, 24-hour, and military time for real timesheets.
Written & reviewed by Fletcher Langley · Last updated: August 2026