3 Ways To Convert From 24 Hour To 12 Hour Time - WikiHow

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Terms of Use wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Learn why people trust wikiHow How to Convert from 24 Hour to 12 Hour Time PDF download Download Article Co-authored by Sophia Bell Reviewed by Grace Imson, MA

Last Updated: November 7, 2025 Fact Checked

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  • Converting 24-Hour Time to 12-Hour Time
    • |
  • Changing 12-Hour Time to 24-Hour Time
    • |
  • Time Conversion Cheat Sheet
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  • Video
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  • Q&A
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  • Tips
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This article was reviewed by Grace Imson, MA and by wikiHow staff writer, Sophia Bell. Grace Imson is a math teacher with over 40 years of teaching experience. Grace is currently a math instructor at the City College of San Francisco and was previously in the Math Department at Saint Louis University. She has taught math at the elementary, middle, high school, and college levels. She has an MA in Education, specializing in Administration and Supervision from Saint Louis University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 2,037,265 times.

If you’ve ever been stumped when you see a clock read something like 14:24, it's probably because you’re unfamiliar with 24-hour time. This form of timekeeping is commonly used in the U.S. military, Europe, and other parts of the world. Fortunately, it’s super simple to convert from 24-hour time to 12-hour (or standard) time and back. Remember that you only need to convert the hours—the minutes always stay the same.

Steps

Time Conversion Cheat Sheet

Sample Time Conversion Chart Method 1 Method 1 of 2:

Converting 24-Hour Time to 12-Hour Time

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  1. Step 1 Add... 1 Add 12 to the first hour of the day and include “AM.” In 24-hour time, midnight is signified as 00:00. So, for midnight hour, add 12 and the signifier “AM” to convert to 12-hour time. This means that, for example, 00:13 in 24-hour time would be 12:13 AM in 12-hour time.[1]

    Did You Know? The abbreviations “AM” and “PM” are Latin in origin. “AM” stands for “ante meridiem” which means “before noon” while PM stands for “post meridiem” which means “after noon.”[2]

  2. Step 2 Include the signifier “AM” for times between 1:00 and 11:59. 2 Include the signifier “AM” for times between 1:00 and 11:59. Since 24-hour times moves from 00:00 (midnight) to 1:00, all you have to do is add “AM” to the time from 1:00 up until 11:59. You can also eliminate any leading zeroes. For instance, 06:28 in 24-hour time is equivalent to 6:28 AM in 12-hour time. This means that:[3]
    • 01:00 = 1:00 AM
    • 02:00 = 2:00 AM
    • 03:00 = 3:00 AM
    • 04:00 = 4:00 AM
    • 05:00 = 5:00 AM
    • 06:00 = 6:00 AM
    • 07:00 = 7:00 AM
    • 08:00 = 8:00 AM
    • 09:00 = 9:00 AM
    • 10:00 = 10:00 AM
    • 11:00 = 11:00 AM
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  3. Step 3 Add the signifier “PM” for 12:00 to 12:59. 3 Add the signifier “PM” for 12:00 to 12:59. For the noon hour, simply add “PM” to the end of the 24-hour time to make it 12-hour time. So, for example, 12:45 would become 12:45 PM.[4]
  4. Step 4 Subtract... 4 Subtract 12 from 13:00 to 23:59 and include “PM.” For the hours after noon, subtract 12 hours from the 24-hour time. Then add “PM” at the end. For instance, to convert 14:36 to 12-hour time, subtract 12, which is 2:36, then add “PM.” There’s no need to include a leading zero for single-digit numbers in 12-hour time. Therefore:[5]
    • 13:00 = 1:00 PM
    • 14:00 = 2:00 PM
    • 15:00 = 3:00 PM
    • 16:00 = 4:00 PM
    • 17:00 = 5:00 PM
    • 18:00 = 6:00 PM
    • 19:00 = 7:00 PM
    • 20:00 = 8:00 PM
    • 21:00 = 9:00 PM
    • 22:00 = 10:00 PM
    • 23:00 = 11:00 PM
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Method 2 Method 2 of 2:

Changing 12-Hour Time to 24-Hour Time

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  1. Step 1 Use 00:00 to signify midnight in 24-hour time. 1 Use 00:00 to signify midnight in 24-hour time. Rather than using “12:00” twice in a 24-hour period, like in 12-hour time, 24-hour time uses “00:00” for the midnight hour. That means all you need to do is record the minutes. For example, 12:30 AM becomes 00:30.[6]

    Did You Know?There’s no 24:00 in 24-hour time since it moves from 23:00 (11:00 PM) to 00:00 (12:00 AM).

  2. Step 2 Eliminate “AM” for the hours between 1:00 and 11:59 AM. 2 Eliminate “AM” for the hours between 1:00 and 11:59 AM. Changing the hours between midnight and noon from 12-hour time to 24-hour time is super simple. All you have to do is take away the “AM” signifier. If the hour number is a single digit, add a leading zero. So, for example, 6:00 AM is 06:00 and 10:15 AM is 10:15. Therefore:[7]
    • 1:00 AM = 01:00
    • 2:00 AM = 02:00
    • 3:00 AM = 03:00
    • 4:00 AM = 04:00
    • 5:00 AM = 05:00
    • 6:00 AM = 06:00
    • 7:00 AM = 07:00
    • 8:00 AM = 08:00
    • 9:00 AM = 09:00
    • 10:00 AM = 10:00
    • 11:00 AM = 11:00
  3. Step 3 Leave the noon hour as-is, but remove "PM." 3 Leave the noon hour as-is, but remove "PM." You don't need to do anything to change 12:00 PM to 12:00 in 24-hour time, except for eliminate the "PM" signifier. So, 12:22 PM would simply be 12:22, for instance.[8]
  4. Step 4 Add 12 to the hours between 1:00 and 11:59 PM and eliminate "PM." 4 Add 12 to the hours between 1:00 and 11:59 PM and eliminate "PM." For the afternoon, evening, and night hours, simply add 12 to the 12-hour time to convert it to 24-hour time. Also, eliminate “PM.” That means that 2:57 PM would become 14:57 and 11:02 would become 23:02. Therefore:[9]
    • 1:00 PM = 13:00
    • 2:00 PM = 14:00
    • 3:00 PM = 15:00
    • 4:00 PM = 16:00
    • 5:00 PM = 17:00
    • 6:00 PM = 18:00
    • 7:00 PM = 19:00
    • 8:00 PM = 20:00
    • 9:00 PM = 21:00
    • 10:00 PM = 22:00
    • 11:00 PM = 23:00
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Community Q&A

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  • Question How do I change 15:15h into 12 hour time? Community Answer Community Answer That would be 3:15 p.m. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 40 Helpful 64
  • Question Does 12:45 mean night or afternoon? Community Answer Community Answer It could mean either. If it says 12:45 a.m., that means it's night, 45 minutes after midnight. If it says 12:45 p.m., it is the afternoon, 45 minutes after noon. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 33 Helpful 34
  • Question How can I convert 12-hour time to 24-hour time? Abhimanyu Sinha Abhimanyu Sinha Community Answer To convert to 24-hour time, if the time is AM, do nothing, whereas if it is PM, add 12:00 hours. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 25 Helpful 54
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Video

Tips

  • Note that "16:35" would be pronounced "sixteen thirty-five" or "thirty-five minutes past sixteen."[10] Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
  • Depending on the speaker's preference, leading zeros may be pronounced as "zero" or "oh." So, for instance, 08:00 would be said as “oh-eight-hundred” or “zero-eight-hundred.” However, for times in the "zero hour" or midnight (00:00), both zeros are usually not pronounced. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 2
  • If the colon is omitted, add “hours” at the end to signify military time. For example, “1600” would be said as “sixteen hundred hours.” Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 2
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References

  1. ↑ https://www.mathsisfun.com/time.html
  2. ↑ https://www.militarytime.us/what-do-am-and-pm-stand-for/
  3. ↑ https://www.mathsisfun.com/time.html
  4. ↑ https://www.mathsisfun.com/time.html
  5. ↑ https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/mathematics-converting-am-pm-to-24-hour-clock/
  6. ↑ https://www.timecalculator.net/12-hour-to-24-hour-converter
  7. ↑ https://www.timecalculator.net/12-hour-to-24-hour-converter
  8. ↑ https://militarytimechart.com/
  9. ↑ https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/mathematics-converting-am-pm-to-24-hour-clock/
More References (1)
  1. ↑ https://www.ixl.com/math/lessons/how-to-tell-time

About This Article

Grace Imson, MA Reviewed by: Grace Imson, MA Math Teacher This article was reviewed by Grace Imson, MA and by wikiHow staff writer, Sophia Bell. Grace Imson is a math teacher with over 40 years of teaching experience. Grace is currently a math instructor at the City College of San Francisco and was previously in the Math Department at Saint Louis University. She has taught math at the elementary, middle, high school, and college levels. She has an MA in Education, specializing in Administration and Supervision from Saint Louis University. This article has been viewed 2,037,265 times. 135 votes - 60% Co-authors: 65 Updated: November 7, 2025 Views: 2,037,265 Categories: Teaching Children Skills Article SummaryX

24-hour time, sometimes called military time, is a way of measuring a full 24-hour day instead of splitting it up into two 12-hour shifts. To go from 24-hour time to 12-hour time, keep in mind that the 24-hour day starts at 00:00 instead of 12:00 AM. However, the minutes are still the same. For the first hour of the day, simply add a “12” where you see the initial 0 to convert to 12-hour time. For instance, 00:25 in 24-hour time is 12:25 AM in 12-hour time. After that, the rest of the hours of the morning look the same. For any time after 12:59 in 24-hour time, subtract 12 to get the 12-hour time. For example, if the time is 17:00, subtract 12 hours to get 5:00 PM in 12-hour time. For tips on how to convert back from 12-hour time to 24-hour time, read on! Did this summary help you?YesNo

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Reader Success Stories

  • Amy Walter

    Amy Walter

    Aug 29, 2016

    "I'm converting to 24 hour time, and the tip for just subtracting 12 from the 24 hour time really helps me out...." more
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Yes No Advertisement Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Grace Imson, MA Reviewed by: Grace Imson, MA Math Teacher 135 votes - 60% Click a star to vote Co-authors: 65 Updated: November 7, 2025 Views: 2,037,265 Amy Walter

Amy Walter

Aug 29, 2016

"I'm converting to 24 hour time, and the tip for just subtracting 12 from the 24 hour time really helps me out...." more Sandhya A.

Sandhya A.

Jan 20, 2025

"The article was well explained and simply put, which helped immensely to clarify the concept for elementary school..." more Anonymous

Anonymous

Mar 4, 2024

"Cleared up some confusion I had about how to say the times when bouncing back and forth between 12 hour and 24..." more Lagata Paplo

Lagata Paplo

Mar 24, 2018

"The article helped me by letting me know how to tell the time." Tiffany Austen

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