Learn how to set the clock on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, or Vision Pro to display time in 24-hour format, commonly referred to as military time in the United States.
After setting up your Apple device, it defaults to the 12-hour clock format. However, many people prefer the 24-hour clock to avoid confusion between AM and PM. The 24-hour clock removes the AM and PM suffixes, making the time picker in various apps more streamlined.
Those in fields like aviation, railways, logistics, and the military often use the 24-hour format, as it’s the international standard in these industries.
Depending on your preference, all Apple operating systems — iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and visionOS — let you switch between 12-hour and 24-hour formats. Note that changing to the 24-hour format affects the time displayed on the status bar, Lock Screen, menu bar, watch face, and time pickers for alarms, calendar events, and the world clock.
iPhone, iPad, or Vision Pro
- Open the Settings app and select General.
- Tap Date & Time.
- Turn on the switch for 24-Hour Time.
You’ll notice that if the current time is before noon (AM), a zero (0) is added before the hour indicator. And if the time is after 12:59 PM, 12 is added to the hour. For example, 7:15 PM appears as 19:15 on the 24-hour clock.
Note that Apple uses 00:00 to represent midnight, although some places use 24:00 instead. However, noon is always indicated as 12:00, with no variation.
Mac
- Open System Settings and select General.
- Click Date & Time.
- Turn on the toggle next to 24-hour time to display the 24-hour clock in the top menu bar.
- You can also choose to show the 24-hour clock on Mac’s Lock Screen.
Apple Watch
You’ll have to use your companion iPhone to make this change.
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap Clock from the list of applications.
- Turn on the switch for 24-Hour Time to see this version of the clock on your supported watch face and elsewhere throughout the watchOS interface.
Remember that watch faces showing the hour, minute, and second hands will remain unaffected by this change.
Apple TV
- Launch the Settings app and select General.
- Go to the Date & Time heading at the bottom and click Time Format to switch to the 24-Hour clock.
If you ever want to switch back to the 12-hour format, just repeat the above steps to access your device’s time settings and turn off the switch for the 24-hour clock.
Use 24-hour clock widgets
If you don’t want to change all the clocks on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac into the 24-hour format but still have access to a 24-hour clock, you can use third-party clock app widgets on your Home Screen or desktop.
Try the free FlipClock and World Clock apps to display the time in 24-hour format, even if your iPhone or iPad uses a 12-hour format. You can also display this iOS app widget on your Mac’s desktop, provided your computer is running the latest version of macOS.
More time-related tips: