The 24-Hour Format Converter is used to effortlessly convert a 12-hour time format that is commonly by the world, to a 24-hour format. In a 12-hour clock, every single day, the time starts at midnight at 12:00 AM and ends at 12:00 AM. On the other hand, using a 24-hour clock, a day starts at 00:00 and ends at 24:00.
How to Use the 24-Hour Format Converter
- Step 1
First, check on the
⚙️ Display Settingsto know your options. You'll have the choice to include or exclude hours, minutes, seconds and/or milliseconds in your calculation. Take your time checking this feature. - Step 2
Then, on the main fields, you can see the defaults - hours, minutes and meridiem. Enter your time 12-hour time format on the respective fields marked by labels. Make sure to choose the correct meridiem, is it AM or PM? Choose the exact time. Let's say you want to convert 4:30PM to 24-hour format. Enter
24on hours,30on minutes andPMon meridiem, but it's already a default so let's move forward. - Step 3
Finally, click on the
Calculatebutton to process your conversion. The output will be displayed just below the✍ Resultheading. If you want to clear the fields, you can do that by clicking on theResetbutton.
The Difference Between 12-Hour and 24-Hour Time Format
The most common time format is a 12-hour format. It is where the 24 hours of the day is divided by two periods, in the morning and afternoon/evening. The maximum hour of each period is set to 12, either at midnight or at noon.
The start time of every day is at 12:00 midnight. The proper way to write that is . The am is an abbreviation of Ante Meridiem, a Latin phrase which means before midday or before noon.
In a 12-hour time format, the am is used in morning time and up just before midday. In other words, 12:00 am (midnight) up to 11:59 am (almost midday), we associate the end of hh:mm with am.
Then, the proper way to write 12:00 noon is . The pm after the hh:mm is an abbreviation as well of a Latin phase but this time it means "after midday" or "after noon". So, the duration of pm is from 12:00 pm (noon) up to 11:59pm (a minute before exact midnight).
So, to write whole day, or a 24 hours duration using a 12 hours format would be 12:00 am up to 11:59 am. It can also be written as 12:00 am to 12:00 am. However, the former one is commonly used to lessen ambiguity.
The usage of 12-hour time format is very dominant in most countries in the world. You can see it on your school schedules, event posters, business hours and almost all watches and clocks use this format.
That's a wrap on the 12-hour format. Let's move forward with the 24-hour time format.
Every single day, the start of the day for a 24-hour time format is 00:00 at midnight and ends at 24:00 on the same day. Notice that on this format, the am and pm after the time is not being used. Also, the count-off time does not reset at 12:00 noon, it continues to count until it reaches 24:00 at midnight on the same day.
Notice that we can say that an entire day starts at 00:00 up to 24:00 on the same day. This is also a proper usage because while 24:00 marks the end of that day, it is exactly the same as 00:00 of the next day.
So, to say that 24:00 as the end of today, that time is equal to 00:00 of the next day. These works just like your clock where when it ticks from 11:59pm and the clock hand moves to 12:00am, you know that that's the end of yesterday and a start of a new time today.
The 24-hour time format is used very heavily on formal or professional settings. This stands true in the context trading because charts are timed on this format.
The case is also true in gaming where a day session starts at 00:00 server time up to 23:59. Even in the practice of medicine, biology and other forms of science, the 24-hour time format deemed to be helpful in determining the exact time without dividing the 24 hours of the day into two 12 hours periods (am/pm).
12-Hour to 24-Hour Time Format Conversion Table
This is a simple table converting a 12-hour time to a 24-hour time format. Notice that we can write 12 am directly but on the other format, it really follows this standard 00:00. Two digits of hours followed by a colon symbol and then two digits of minutes.
| 12-Hour Format [AM] | 24-Hour Format |
| 12-Hour Format [PM] | 24-Hour Format |
On the first table row, 12 am is equal to 00:00 of the current day (today). Then, on the last row 12:00 am is equal to 24:00, why is that? A common practice that when you define a whole day based on a 24-hour format, its 00:00 up to 24:00. At the same time, while 24:00 marks the end of the day, it is equivalent to 00:00 of the next day, hence 24:00 is equal to 00:00.
You may see in product promotions or events that it only last until 23:59 and not 24:00, this is to avoid confusion because it you write 24:00, this is already the start of the next day.
