Welcome back to another article on military time. If you have learned how to read and pronounce military time with us in another article, it is good to go ahead and learn how to change a watch from military time to standard time and vice versa.
Whatever reason you have to use a particular time system, it is handy to have the steps in mind since you do not have to go searching on the Internet every time you need to make the switch.
Understanding this, here we have an article that will take you through all the necessary steps, which are briefly summarized as follows:
For a standard digital watch:
- Hit MODE three times
- Hit RESET twice
- Hit START until the time passes 24 hours
- Hit START until you get the time you want
For an Apple Watch:
- Turn your Apple Watch and iPhone on
- Open the Watch app and select CLOCK
- Turn the 12-HOUR TIME on with swiping motions
For a Marathon WR50M watch:
- Hit SET once
For a complete set of instructions, continue to read!
Table of Contents
Step-by-step Guide: Change Watch to Military Time
1. Standard Digital Watch
This is the type of watch found in local stores like Walmart, Walgreens, Target, Best Buy, etc. It should have four buttons, which are the start, reset, light, and mode functions.
Hit the MODE function once, which will take you to the stopwatch. Hit the MODE one more time to get the RLE. This shows you the alarm clock. But, since this is not what we want, so hit MODE again.
When you see that the display is blinking, hit the RESET twice. At this point, you should see that the “cursor” is at the hour’s digits. Click START to change the hours.
Do this until you pass 24 hours. It will automatically revert to 12. The “H” letter at the bottom of the display will also change from H to A.
Complete by setting the hour to the time you want in a 12-hour format.
2. Apple Watch
If you are an Apple user, you may wonder “How to change my apple watch from military time?” Lucky for you, this section is dedicated to answering that!
The Apple Watch has a default 12-hour time format. So, it runs from 1 AM to 12 PM and then from 1 PM to 12 am. Sometimes, for some reason, your phone may be switched to military time. You can return to the standard time with four simple steps.
First, turn on your Apple Watch and iPhone. Make sure that the phone is paired with your watch through iOS.
Open the Watch app on the phone and select CLOCK in the top right corner. Then, turn off the 24-HOUR TIME format by sliding or swiping it until you can select the 12-HOUR TIME format.
When you want to return to military time, carry out the same steps. However, note that you will see military time on the display if you set the watch face to DIGITAL style. In case your watch does not have a DIGITAL watch face, install it in the Watch app.
You can check this in the Watch app’s WATCH FACE GALLERY.
Note: You need to make sure that the time mode change syncs and is apparent on both your iPhone and Apple Watch. Otherwise, you will have to redo it over and over because the sync will not be permanent.
If it does not sync, follow these steps to change your iPhone’s time to the 12-Hour time format: First, turn your phone on and open the SETTINGS app. Go to GENERAL and click on the DATE & TIME option. Finally, switch on the 12-HOUR TIME.
Furthermore, here is a detailed guide to changing the time on the Apple watch for Ifan.
3. Timex Marathon WR50M Watch
There is only one step that you need to take to change Marathon WR50M watch from military time to standard time and vice versa. Yes, you read that right! Only one step!
So, what’s the step? It’s: press the SET button on the left of the watch once. You should see the time change from a military format to a standard format. Click it again to change back to military time. Voila!
Top Tip: It’s easier to press the SET button if you take the watch off your wrist.
If you want a visual guide, watch this Youtube video.
Conclusion
Congrats, you have seen the instructions on how to change a watch from military time to standard time for three types of watches: the standard digital watch, Apple Watch, and Timex Marathon WR50M watch. And if you are wondering why the military use 24-hour instead of 12-hour, this post will help you find the answer!
Hopefully, you were able to follow along and change the time formats on your own watch. If you have any additional queries or thoughts, feel free to reach out to us in the comments below! Also, please do not hesitate about sharing this article’s content with others, especially those you know are struggling with changing the time mode on their watch!
I am Everett Bledsoe, taking on the responsibility of content producer for The Soldiers Project. My purpose in this project is to give honest reviews on the gear utilized and tested over time. Of course, you cannot go wrong when checking out our package of information and guide, too, as they come from reliable sources and years of experience.