Military Time Converter

A military time converter switches between the 24-hour clock and AM/PM time. For hours 13 to 23, subtract 12 and add PM: 1600 is 16 − 12 = 4:00 PM, said “sixteen hundred hours.” Hours 01 to 11 are AM, 0000 is midnight and 1200 is noon. Going the other way, add 12 to any PM hour except 12: 7:45 PM is 1945.

How to use the military time converter

1. Military → 12 h: type a time such as 1600, 0930, 16:30 or 163045 (with seconds). You get the AM/PM time, the spoken form and the 24-hour clock form. Pick your UTC offset to see the same moment in Zulu time.
2. 12 h → military: enter the hour, minute and optional seconds, and choose AM or PM.
3. Time math: find the time between two military times (overnight shifts included), or add or subtract hours and minutes.
4. Minute chart: search any time in either format, or pick an hour, to see all 60 minutes of that hour.

How to convert military time to standard time

• 0000 to 0059: the hour after midnight. Change 00 to 12 and add AM: 0045 is 12:45 AM.
• 0100 to 1159: morning. Drop the leading zero and add AM: 0930 is 9:30 AM.
• 1200 to 1259: the noon hour. Keep 12 and add PM: 1215 is 12:15 PM.
• 1300 to 2359: afternoon and night. Subtract 12 and add PM: 2145 is 21 − 12 = 9:45 PM.

The minutes never change. Seconds, when used, are written as a third pair of digits: 163045 is 4:30:45 PM.

How to convert standard time to military time

For AM times, write the hour with two digits (7:05 AM is 0705), except 12 AM, which becomes 00 (12:30 AM is 0030). For PM times, add 12 to the hour (7:45 PM is 19 + 45 = 1945), except 12 PM, which stays 12 (12:30 PM is 1230). Drop the colon and the AM or PM.

How to say military time

Read the four digits as two pairs and end with “hours.”

Military time chart

The full 24-hour chart, one row per hour. The Minute chart tab in the converter shows every minute of any hour.

Minutes to decimal hours (timesheets)

Payroll systems often record hours as decimals, sometimes called “military minutes.” Divide the minutes by 60: 45 minutes is 45 ÷ 60 = 0.75 hours.

Zulu time and UTC

Military time is usually local time. When a time ends in Z, such as 2100Z (“twenty-one hundred Zulu”), it is given in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the world reference time scale maintained by the BIPM. The U.S. military calls this zone Zulu time, from the letter Z in the lettered time-zone system. To convert local time to Zulu, subtract your UTC offset: 1600 Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5) is 1600 + 5 hours = 2100Z. Remember daylight saving time: Eastern Daylight Time is UTC−4, so 1600 EDT is 2000Z.

Worked examples

A night shift

A shift runs from 2200 to 0630. The end is earlier than the start, so it crosses midnight. In minutes after midnight: 2200 = 1,320 and 0630 = 390. Add a day to the end: 390 + 1,440 = 1,830. Then 1,830 − 1,320 = 510 minutes = 8 h 30 min, or 8.5 hours.

A day shift

From 0730 to 1615: 975 − 450 = 525 minutes = 8 h 45 min, which is 8.75 decimal hours.

Adding time

A flight leaves at 2200 and takes 8 h 30 min. 1,320 + 510 = 1,830 minutes, which is past 1,440, so subtract a day: 1,830 − 1,440 = 390 minutes = 0630 the next day.

Common mistakes

• Writing 12:30 AM as 1230. It is 0030; 1230 is half past noon.
• Saying “sixteen hundred thirty.” Use “hundred” only when the minutes are 00: 1630 is “sixteen thirty.”
• Using 2400 for times after midnight. 2400 is only the end of a day; one minute later is 0001.
• Forgetting the leading zero: 9:30 AM is 0930, not 930.
• Treating a Zulu time as local time. 1200Z is noon in UTC, which is 7:00 AM Eastern Standard Time.

Sources

• Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (U.S. Air Force), “Military time simplified”: the 24-hour chart and Zulu time. Checked November 2026.
• NIST, Introduction to UTC(NIST): UTC as the global time scale maintained by the BIPM. Checked November 2026.

Military Time practice quiz: 10 questions

Test yourself with 10 multiple-choice questions. Choose an answer and press Submit to see if you are right and why. Your score appears at the end.

Frequently asked questions

What is 1600 in military time?

1600 is 4:00 PM, said “sixteen hundred hours.” Subtract 12 from 16 to get 4, and add PM.

Is midnight 0000 or 2400?

Both are used. 0000 is midnight at the start of a day and is the usual choice; 2400 marks the end of a day, as in a shift that runs “0800 to 2400.” They are the same moment.

What time is 1900 in military time?

1900 is 7:00 PM (19 − 12 = 7), said “nineteen hundred hours.”

How do you write 12:30 AM in military time?

0030. The midnight hour is 00, so 12:30 AM becomes 0030, said “zero zero thirty hours.”

What does Zulu mean in military time?

Zulu, written Z, means the time is in UTC rather than local time. 1300Z is 1:00 PM UTC, which is 8:00 AM in New York in winter (UTC−5).

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