What happens at midnight
Midnight is where one date ends and the next begins, so it's the deadline behind a lot of last-minute rushes. An assignment due “by the end of the day” usually means 11:59 PM, a code that expires today stops working at midnight, and a form that closes on a date tends to close as that date turns over.
It's a release time, too. New music comes out just after midnight local time on Fridays, games and shows often unlock at 12 AM, and on December 31 the countdown to midnight is the countdown to the new year.
- 12 AM or 12 PM?
- Midnight is 12:00 AM, the very start of the day. Noon is 12:00 PM.
- On a 24-hour clock
- Midnight is 00:00, and the minute before it is 23:59.
- The biggest midnight
- On New Year's Eve the New Year countdown shows the days as well, then the final seconds.
New Year countdown →
Midnight questions
Is 12 AM midnight?
Yes. 12:00 AM is midnight, the first minute of a new day, and 12:00 PM is noon. To dodge the confusion, many timetables and contracts say 11:59 PM or 12:01 AM instead.
How many minutes until midnight?
The line under the counter gives the total minutes and seconds left, and the tiles show hours, minutes and seconds. It updates every second and counts to tonight's midnight in your own time zone.
What happens to the countdown at midnight?
It shows that midnight has arrived for a minute (with a chime, if you turned one on), then starts counting to the next midnight, a day away.
Count down to another time
The other times people search for most — or type any time on How long until…?
- How Long Until 3:30 PM?School's out
- How Long Until 5 PM?The end of the work day
- How Long Until Noon?Midday
- How Long Until 3 PM?Check-in time
- How Long Until 4 PM?The closing bell
- How Long Until 1:30 PM?Half past one
- How Long Until 6 PM?Dinner time
- How Long Until 8 PM?Prime time
- How Long Until 7 PM?The evening starts