Unix Timestamp Converter
Convert between Unix timestamps and human-readable dates.
This tool is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional financial, medical, legal, or engineering advice. See Terms of Service.
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Request a ToolHow to Use the Unix Timestamp Converter
Choose a conversion direction, enter your value, and get the result instantly.
- Select direction. Convert a Unix timestamp to a readable date, or convert a date to a Unix timestamp.
- Enter your value. For Unix to date, enter the timestamp in seconds (e.g., 1704067200). For date to Unix, pick a date and time from the selector.
- Read the result. The converted value is shown along with the ISO 8601 string for use in code.
- Copy the result. Use the Copy button to grab the output for use in code, logs, or documentation.
About Unix Timestamps
A Unix timestamp (also called epoch time) is the number of seconds that have elapsed since January 1, 1970, at 00:00:00 UTC. It is the standard time representation in programming, databases, and server logs because it is a simple integer with no timezone ambiguity.
Unix timestamps are always in UTC. When displaying them in local time, the conversion depends on the viewer's timezone. This converter displays dates in UTC for consistency. The ISO 8601 string in the breakdown includes the UTC offset (Z suffix) for use in APIs and code.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Unix timestamp?
A Unix timestamp is the number of seconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC (the Unix epoch). It is a simple integer that represents an exact moment in time without any timezone information. Unix timestamp 0 is January 1, 1970. Timestamp 1704067200 is January 1, 2024, at midnight UTC.
What is the difference between seconds and milliseconds timestamps?
Most systems (databases, server logs, Unix utilities) use second-precision timestamps. JavaScript's Date.now() and many web APIs use millisecond timestamps, which are 1000 times larger. If your timestamp has 13 digits (e.g., 1704067200000), it is in milliseconds. Divide by 1000 to get seconds before entering it in this converter.
What is the Unix Year 2038 problem?
The Year 2038 problem affects systems that store Unix timestamps as a signed 32-bit integer. The maximum value of a signed 32-bit integer is 2,147,483,647, which corresponds to January 19, 2038. After that date, 32-bit systems will overflow to a negative number, causing errors. Modern systems use 64-bit integers, which can represent dates well beyond the year 292 billion.
How do I get the current Unix timestamp?
Select "Human date to Unix timestamp" and pick today's date and the current time. The result is the current Unix timestamp in seconds. In code, you can get the current timestamp with Date.now() in JavaScript (returns milliseconds), time() in PHP, time.time() in Python, or System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000 in Java.