Time Format Converter
The 12-hour and 24-hour clocks encode the same instants, just with different conventions. The 24-hour form runs 00:00 to 23:59 and carries the whole day in the hour number; the 12-hour form pairs a number from 1 to 12 with AM or PM, and midnight and noon are the two cases that trip people up, because both read as 12 rather than 0.
How it works
Frequently asked questions
Why does noon become 12:00 PM and not 12:00 AM?
Midnight is the start of the day, so it counts as 12:00 AM; noon is twelve hours later, so it is 12:00 PM. The 12-hour clock never shows a zero hour, which is exactly why the two noon/midnight cases read the same number and have to be told apart by the AM/PM tag.
Is 24:00 a valid time?
Not in this converter. The 24-hour clock used on timetables and in ISO 8601 runs from 00:00 to 23:59, and midnight belongs to the new day โ so 24:00 is written as 00:00 of the following day instead.