Tally My ShiftHow to convert 24-hour (military) time to am and pm
Updated · Worked examples use whole minutes
For hours 13 to 23, subtract 12 and add pm: 17:45 is 5:45 pm. Hours 1 to 11 keep their number and take am. 00:xx is 12:xx am, just after midnight, and 12:xx is 12:xx pm, just after noon. The minutes never change.
Calculate it step by step
- Read the hour, the digits before the colon.
- If the hour is 00, write 12 and add am.
- If the hour is 01 to 11, drop any leading zero and add am.
- If the hour is 12, keep it and add pm.
- If the hour is 13 to 23, subtract 12 and add pm.
Worked example
14:20 becomes 14 − 12 = 2, so 2:20 pm. 00:35 is 12:35 am. 12:05 is 12:05 pm. 0915, written without a colon, is 9:15 am.
Check your own shifts in the time card calculator
24-hour clock to 12-hour clock, hour by hour
| 24-hour | 12-hour |
|---|---|
| 00:00 | 12:00 am |
| 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 |
| 12:00 | 12:00 pm |
| 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 |
| 24-hour | 12-hour |
|---|---|
| 20:00 | 8:00 pm |
| 21:00 | 9:00 pm |
| 22:00 | 10:00 pm |
| 23:00 | 11:00 pm |
Minutes carry across unchanged. 18:40 is 6:40 pm.
Why do timeclocks use 24-hour time, and how do night shifts work?
Timeclocks and payroll exports often use 24-hour time because it avoids am and pm mix-ups. In US military usage the colon is usually dropped, so 1730 is read as “seventeen thirty”. The arithmetic is the same either way.
Midnight causes most mistakes on a timesheet. A shift from 22:00 to 06:00 crosses into the next day, so add 24 hours to the finish before subtracting: 30:00 − 22:00 gives 8 hours.
Quick answers
What time is 1900 in military time?
1900 is 7:00 pm. Subtract 12 from 19 and add pm.
Is 12:00 am midnight or noon?
12:00 am is midnight, written 00:00 on a 24-hour clock. 12:00 pm is noon, written 12:00. Because the labels confuse many people, timesheets often avoid them by using 24-hour time.