Military time chart

How to read the chart

Military time counts the hours of the day from 00 to 23, so there is no AM or PM. The first two digits are the hour and the last two are the minutes. The left half of the chart covers midnight to 11 AM, where military time is just the morning hour with a leading zero (0700 is 7:00 AM). The right half covers noon to 11 PM, where the hour carries on counting past 12 (1900 is 7:00 PM). The minutes never change between the two systems: 1915 is 7:15 PM, 1930 is 7:30 PM and 1945 is 7:45 PM.

Times people often mix up

Military	Standard	Why it trips people up
0000	12:00 AM	Midnight is hour zero, not 12
0030	12:30 AM	Half an hour after midnight, still hour zero
1200	12:00 PM	Noon, the one PM hour you don’t add 12 to
1230	12:30 PM	Lunchtime, not just after midnight
2400	12:00 AM	Midnight at the end of the day, the same moment as 0000 the next day

Two tricks for the afternoon hours

Subtracting 12 always works, but there are quicker shortcuts. From 1300 to 1900, take 2 off the second digit: 1700 becomes 7 − 2 = 5 PM, and 1300 becomes 3 − 2 = 1 PM. From 2000 to 2300, add 8 to the second digit instead: 2100 becomes 1 + 8 = 9 PM and 2300 becomes 3 + 8 = 11 PM. Going the other way, add 12 to any PM hour from 1 PM: 4:30 PM is 1630.

Where a printed chart helps

• Nurses’ stations and care homes: many hospitals chart medication and observations in 24-hour time so a dose at 0800 can’t be confused with 8 PM. A chart by the medication cart helps new staff.
• Shift boards: warehouses, factories, dispatch centers and security teams often schedule shifts like 0600–1430 or 2200–0630.
• Classrooms: the chart shows how the 12-hour and 24-hour clocks line up, and the spoken column helps with reading times aloud.
• Travel: train, bus and flight timetables in most of the world use the 24-hour clock, so a departure at 1745 means 5:45 PM.

Printing tips

Print in portrait at 100% scale; the chart and the minutes table are laid out to fill one page. Background graphics aren’t needed, as the table uses plain lines. If the chart is going on a wall or a cart, laminating it keeps it readable for years. To convert a single time, or to see the time right now in military time, use the military time converter. If you’re adding up a week of punches like 0745 to 1615, the time card calculator does the sums, and the hours calculator handles a single shift.