What this chart shows
This is a complete reference for military time — the four-digit 24-hour format that runs from 0000 to 2300 with no AM or PM. Each row pairs a military hour with its regular 12-hour equivalent and shows how it is spoken, so you can both read it and say it correctly.
It is for anyone who runs into military time and thinks in regular time: a service member or veteran, a nurse or paramedic reading a chart, a dispatcher, a pilot, or anyone whose schedule, radio, or paperwork uses it. The two hours people most often trip over — 0000 (midnight) and 1200 (noon) — are labelled plainly so there is no doubt which is which.
How to read it
Four steps — for a whole time you only ever look at the hour block.
- Find the hour in the military column.Look down the left column for your four-digit time, from 0000 through 2300.
- Read across to the regular time.The middle column gives the same hour in 12-hour format, with AM or PM.
- Keep your minutes exactly as they are.Minutes never change between the two systems, so 1645 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
Once the rule clicks you can drop the chart. It splits at noon: military times from 0000 to 1159 are AM, and 1200 to 2359 are PM. Only the two ends need a small adjustment.
- Midnight hour (00): read
0000as 12 AM. So 0020 is 12:20 AM. - Morning hours (01–11): drop the leading zero, add AM. 0915 is 9:15 AM.
- Noon hour (12): keep 12, but it is PM. 1230 is 12:30 PM.
- Afternoon & evening (13–23): subtract 12, add PM. 1800 is 6:00 PM; 2345 is 11:45 PM.
19 — it is past 12, so PM19 − 12 = 7
Minutes stay
401940 = 7:40 PM · spoken "nineteen forty"
Going the other way is just as quick: for a PM time, add 12 to the hour and drop the colon (7 PM → 1900); for 12 AM use 0000, and for 12 PM use 1200. To convert a whole time either direction in one tap, the military time converter does it live, and the 24-hour clock chart shows the same hours in civilian HH:MM form.
Quick examples with minutes
The chart lists whole hours; these show that the minutes simply ride along.
| Military | Regular | Spoken |
|---|---|---|
| 0005 | 12:05 AM | Zero zero zero five |
| 0730 | 7:30 AM | Zero seven thirty |
| 1215 | 12:15 PM | Twelve fifteen |
| 1345 | 1:45 PM | Thirteen forty-five |
| 2020 | 8:20 PM | Twenty twenty |
| 2359 | 11:59 PM | Twenty-three fifty-nine |
If the version you are reading uses a colon and a leading zero instead — like 08:00 or 17:30 — that is the civilian 24-hour clock; the 24-hour clock chart lays out that style row by row.
Where you'll meet military time
- Armed forces — the Army, Navy, Air Force, and their allies run entirely on it, which is where the name comes from.
- Healthcare — hospitals chart medication and vital-sign times in 24-hour form so 7:00 can never be mistaken for 19:00.
- Emergency services & dispatch — police, fire, and EMS logs and radio traffic use it for the same reason.
- Aviation & transport — flight ops, air traffic control, and shift schedules rely on unambiguous times; to total a shift like 2200–0600, the hours calculator handles the overnight case.
- Anyone reading the above — a family member, a new employee, or a patient trying to make sense of a 24-hour time on a form.
Need the rest of the reference set? The charts hub collects every quick-reference table on the site.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert military time to regular time?
For military times from 0000 to 1159 the time is AM — write 00 as 12 (so 0030 is 12:30 AM) and drop the leading zero on the others (0800 is 8:00 AM). For 1200 to 2359 the time is PM — keep 1200 as 12:00 PM and subtract 12 from every hour after it (1800 is 6:00 PM). The minutes never change.
Is 0000 midnight, and is there a 2400?
0000 ("zero hundred hours") is midnight, the start of the day, and equals 12:00 AM. Some organisations write midnight as 2400 to mark the end of a day, but the day itself begins again at 0000. This chart uses 0000 for midnight, which is the common convention.
How do you say military time out loud?
Read the hours, then "hundred hours": 0800 is "zero eight hundred hours", 1300 is "thirteen hundred hours". When minutes are present you say them: 0930 is "zero nine thirty" and 1745 is "seventeen forty-five". A leading zero is often spoken as "oh", so 0800 can be "oh eight hundred".
What is the difference between military time and the 24-hour clock?
They count the hours the same way, 0 to 23, but write and speak them differently. The civilian 24-hour clock uses a colon and leading zero — 08:00, 17:30. Military time drops the colon, so those become 0800 and 1730, and adds "hours" when spoken. The 24-hour clock chart shows the civilian style.
What does the Z (Zulu) mean in military time?
A letter after the time names the time zone. Z, spoken "Zulu", means UTC — Coordinated Universal Time — so 1300Z is 1:00 PM UTC. The letters run through the zones so units in different places can share one unambiguous time. This chart shows local military time, without a zone letter.
Do the minutes change in military time?
No. Only the hour and the AM/PM label change when you convert. The minutes are identical, so 2045 is 8:45 PM and 0705 is 7:05 AM.
Why does the military use this format?
A four-digit 24-hour time has no AM or PM, so it cannot be misread — 6 in the morning (0600) and 6 in the evening (1800) can never be confused. In fields where a single misheard hour is dangerous, that clarity is the whole point.
Accuracy & sources
The chart is a direct mapping, not a calculation: each military hour is paired with the single 12-hour time it represents, following the plain rule shown in the conversion rule — 0000 becomes 12 AM, 1200 stays 12 PM, and 1300–2300 have 12 subtracted. Every one of the twenty-four rows, and the spoken forms, were checked by hand before publishing.
Military time is the 24-hour, no-AM/PM convention used by the US Department of Defense and NATO forces; the underlying hour numbering (00 to 23) 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