diff --git a/app.vue b/app.vue
index 850f19a..6f242ff 100644
--- a/app.vue
+++ b/app.vue
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 <script lang="ts" setup>
 import ContextMenu from '~/components/ContextMenu.vue';
 import { render } from 'vue';
-import settingLoad from './utils/settingLoad';
 
 const banner = useState("banner", () => false);
 
@@ -51,7 +50,7 @@ function contextMenuHandler(e: MouseEvent) {
 	//]);
 }
 
-const currentTheme = settingLoad("selectedThemeId") ?? "dark"
+const currentTheme = settingsLoad().selectedThemeId ?? "dark"
 const baseURL = useRuntimeConfig().app.baseURL;
 
 useHead({
diff --git a/components/Message.vue b/components/Message.vue
index a8329dd..15d656f 100644
--- a/components/Message.vue
+++ b/components/Message.vue
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@
 				<span class="message-date" :title="date.toString()">
 					<span v-if="getDayDifference(date, currentDate) === 1">Yesterday at</span>
 					<span v-else-if="getDayDifference(date, currentDate) > 1 ">{{ date.toLocaleDateString(undefined) }},</span>
-					{{ date.toLocaleTimeString(undefined, { timeStyle: "short" }) }}
+
+					{{ date.toLocaleTimeString(undefined, { hour12: props.format == "12", timeStyle: "short" }) }}
 				</span>
 			</div>
 			<div class="message-text" v-html="sanitized" tabindex="0"></div>
diff --git a/components/MessageArea.vue b/components/MessageArea.vue
index e97a2af..d59b862 100644
--- a/components/MessageArea.vue
+++ b/components/MessageArea.vue
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 		<div id="messages" ref="messagesElement">
 			<Message v-for="(message, i) of messages" :username="message.user.display_name ?? message.user.username"
 				:text="message.message" :timestamp="messageTimestamps[message.uuid]" :img="message.user.avatar"
-				format="12" :type="messagesType[message.uuid]"
+				:format="timeFormat" :type="messagesType[message.uuid]"
 				:margin-bottom="(messages[i + 1] && messagesType[messages[i + 1].uuid] == 'normal') ?? false"
 				:last="i == messages.length - 1" :message-id="message.uuid" :author="message.user" :me="me"
 				:message="message" :is-reply="message.reply_to"
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ const me = await fetchWithApi("/me") as UserResponse;
 const messageTimestamps = ref<Record<string, number>>({});
 const messagesType = ref<Record<string, "normal" | "grouped">>({});
 const messageGroupingMaxDifference = useRuntimeConfig().public.messageGroupingMaxDifference
+const timeFormat = getPreferredTimeFormat()
 
 const messagesRes: MessageResponse[] | undefined = await fetchWithApi(
 	`${props.channelUrl}/messages`,
diff --git a/components/Settings/AppSettings/Appearance.vue b/components/Settings/AppSettings/Appearance.vue
index 32b7aef..b81929f 100644
--- a/components/Settings/AppSettings/Appearance.vue
+++ b/components/Settings/AppSettings/Appearance.vue
@@ -17,20 +17,27 @@
       </div>
     </div>
 
-    <p class="subtitle">ICONS</p>
-    <div class="themes">
+    <!-- <p class="subtitle">Icons</p>
+    <div class="icons">
+    </div> -->
+
+    <p class="subtitle">TIME FORMAT</p>
+    <div class="icons">
+      <RadioButtons :button-count="3" :text-strings="timeFormatTextStrings"
+          :default-button-index="settingsLoad().timeFormat?.index ?? 0" :callback="onTimeFormatClicked"></RadioButtons>
     </div>
-
-
   </div>
 </template>
 
 <script lang="ts" setup>
+import RadioButtons from '~/components/UserInterface/RadioButtons.vue';
+import type { TimeFormat } from '~/types/settings';
 import settingSave from '~/utils/settingSave';
 
 const runtimeConfig = useRuntimeConfig()
 const defaultThemes = runtimeConfig.public.defaultThemes
 const baseURL = runtimeConfig.app.baseURL;
+const timeFormatTextStrings = ["Auto", "12-Hour", "24-Hour"]
 let themeLinkElement: HTMLLinkElement | null = null;
 
 const themes: Array<Theme> = []
@@ -70,6 +77,21 @@ async function fetchThemes() {
 }
 
 await fetchThemes()
+
+async function onTimeFormatClicked(index: number) {
+  let format: "auto" | "12" | "24" = "auto"
+
+  if (index == 0) {
+    format = "auto"
+  } else if (index == 1) {
+    format = "12"
+  } else if (index == 2) {
+    format = "24"
+  }
+
+  const timeFormat: TimeFormat = {index, format}
+  settingSave("timeFormat", timeFormat)
+}
 </script>
 
 <style scoped>
diff --git a/components/UserInterface/RadioButtons.vue b/components/UserInterface/RadioButtons.vue
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c36b5d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/UserInterface/RadioButtons.vue
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+<template>
+	<div class="radio-buttons-container" ref="radioButtonsContainer">
+		<div v-for="index in indices" :key="index" class="radio-button" @click="onClick(index)">
+			<span class="radio-button-radio"></span>
+			<span class="radio-button-text">{{ textStrings[index] }}</span>
+		</div>
+	</div>
+</template>
+
+<script lang="ts" setup>
+
+const radioButtonsContainer = ref<HTMLDivElement>()
+
+const props = defineProps<{
+	textStrings: string[],
+	buttonCount: number,
+	defaultButtonIndex: number,
+	callback: CallableFunction,
+}>();
+
+// makes an array from 0 to buttonCount - 1
+const indices = Array.from({ length: props.buttonCount }, (_, i) => i) 
+
+// select default selected button
+onMounted(async () => {
+	await nextTick()
+	
+	if (props.defaultButtonIndex != undefined && radioButtonsContainer.value) {
+		const children = radioButtonsContainer.value.children
+		const defaultButton = children.item(props.defaultButtonIndex)
+		defaultButton?.classList.add("selected-radio-button")
+		defaultButton?.children.item(0)?.classList.add("selected-radio-button-radio")
+	}
+})
+
+
+function onClick(clickedIndex: number) {
+	// remove selected-radio-button class from all buttons except the clicked one	
+	if (radioButtonsContainer.value) {
+		const children = radioButtonsContainer.value.children
+		for (let i = 0; i < children.length; i++) {
+			children.item(i)?.classList.remove("selected-radio-button")
+			children.item(i)?.children.item(0)?.classList.remove("selected-radio-button-radio")
+		}
+
+		children.item(clickedIndex)?.classList.add("selected-radio-button")
+		children.item(clickedIndex)?.children.item(0)?.classList.add("selected-radio-button-radio")
+	}
+	
+	props.callback(clickedIndex)
+}
+</script>
+
+<style scoped>
+.radio-buttons-container {
+	display: flex;
+	flex-direction: column;
+}
+
+.radio-button {
+	cursor: pointer;
+
+	display: flex;
+	align-items: center;
+
+	border-radius: .66em;
+	background-color: unset;
+	color: var(--text-color);
+
+	padding: 0.4em 0.75em;
+	margin: 0.4em 0em;
+	font-size: 1.1em;
+	transition: background-color 0.2s;
+}
+
+.radio-button:hover {
+	background-color: var(--secondary-highlighted-color);
+}
+
+.selected-radio-button {
+	background-color: var(--accent-color);
+}
+
+.selected-radio-button:hover {
+	background-color: var(--accent-highlighted-color);
+}
+
+.radio-button-radio, .selected-radio-button-radio {
+	position: relative;
+	
+	display: inline-block;
+	border-radius: 1em;
+}
+
+.radio-button-radio {
+	height: 1em;
+	width: 1em;
+	border: .15em solid var(--primary-color);
+}
+
+.selected-radio-button-radio {
+    height: 1em;
+    width: 1em;
+	border: 0.15em solid var(--primary-color);
+	background-color: var(--primary-highlighted-color);
+}
+
+.radio-button-text {
+	margin-left: .5em;
+}
+</style>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/types/settings.ts b/types/settings.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28e3bfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/types/settings.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+export interface ClientSettings {
+	selectedThemeId?: string, // the ID of the theme, not the URL, for example "dark"
+	timeFormat?: TimeFormat
+}
+
+export interface TimeFormat {
+	index: number,
+	format: "auto" | "12" | "24"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/utils/getPreferredTimeFormat.ts b/utils/getPreferredTimeFormat.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..86b9635
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/getPreferredTimeFormat.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+export default (): "12" | "24" => {
+	const format = settingsLoad().timeFormat?.format ?? "auto"
+
+	if (format == "12") {
+		return "12"
+	} else if (format == "24") {
+		return "24"
+	}
+
+	return "24"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/utils/settingLoad.ts b/utils/settingsLoad.ts
similarity index 66%
rename from utils/settingLoad.ts
rename to utils/settingsLoad.ts
index d0f315c..e7fdfaf 100644
--- a/utils/settingLoad.ts
+++ b/utils/settingsLoad.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
-export default (key: string): any => {
+import type { ClientSettings } from "~/types/settings"
+
+export default (): ClientSettings => {
 	let clientSettingsItem: string | null = localStorage.getItem("clientSettings")
 	if (typeof clientSettingsItem != "string") {
 		clientSettingsItem = "{}"
 	}
 
-	let clientSettings: { [key: string]: any } = {}
+	let clientSettings: ClientSettings = {}
 	try {
 		clientSettings = JSON.parse(clientSettingsItem)
 	} catch {
@@ -15,5 +17,5 @@ export default (key: string): any => {
 		clientSettings = {}
 	}
 
-	return clientSettings[key]
+	return clientSettings
 }
\ No newline at end of file