Random Time Generator: Any Hours, Any Step, 12 or 24 Hour: how it works
This random time generator draws a time of day between the two times you set. It opens on the whole day, where each of the 1,440 minutes has the same chance. Narrow the hours, step by 5, 15 or 60 minutes, draw up to 100 times at once and read them as 3:45 pm or 15:45.
Pick a time between two times
Set From and To, or tap a quick range, then press Pick a time. Both ends can come up, so 9:00 am to 5:00 pm holds 481 minutes, not 480. Step thins the choice: 15 minutes keeps only :00, :15, :30 and :45, leaving 96 times in a day. A From later than To runs through midnight: 10:00 pm to 2:00 am is one range of 241 minutes.
Read the full guide
Build a schedule in one press
Set How many to 20, tick No repeats and choose Earliest first under Order. A work sampling study needs exactly that: observations at random times across a shift. The same list sets surprise breaks, pop quizzes or scenes in a story. For test data, switch Written as to 24-hour first: 07:05 and 15:45 sort into time order as plain text, and 7:05 am and 3:45 pm do not.
Tips
- 12:00 am is midnight and 12:00 pm is noon. The US Government Printing Office printed them the other way round until 2008, so write deadlines as 11:59 pm or 12:01 am, as NIST advises.
- With repeats allowed, 45 draws from the whole day will more likely than not repeat a minute. On a 15 minute step, 12 will.
- Clock practice: England's curriculum asks Year 1 for the hour and half past, Year 2 for five-minute times. Set Step to 30 or 5, have pupils draw the hands, then check the clock face.
Questions and answers
How do I pick a random time for an alarm or a break?
Tap Working hours 9 to 5 or type your own hours and press the button. For a wake-up you cannot predict, try 6:30 am to 7:30 am. The page does not ring, so set the alarm yourself.
Why does the 24-hour format never show 24:00?
The day starts at 00:00 and its last minute starts at 23:59, so 24:00 would be tomorrow's 00:00 under another name. ISO 8601, the standard for writing times, dropped 24:00 in 2019 and restored it in 2022 for the end of a day only.
Can it add seconds or a date?
Seconds, yes: turn Seconds on and any of the day's 86,400 seconds can come up, as 3:45:09 pm or 15:45:09. A date, no. For timestamps, draw as many rows here as on the random date generator and paste them side by side.