Unix Timestamp Converter
A Unix timestamp is the number of seconds that have passed since January 1, 1970. Computers use this number to store dates and times because it is easy to calculate with. But when you see a timestamp like 1711500000 in an API response or a database, it is hard to know what date that is without converting it. This tool converts timestamps to a readable date and time, and also converts dates back to timestamps. It also shows you the current timestamp right now, updated every second.
Convert Timestamp to Date
Convert Date to Timestamp
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Unix timestamp?
A Unix timestamp is the number of seconds that have passed since January 1, 1970, at midnight UTC. It is a standard way for computers to store dates as a single number, making comparisons and calculations simple.
Why do developers use Unix timestamps?
Timestamps are simpler to store, compare, and calculate with than formatted date strings. Adding one day is just adding 86,400 seconds. They also avoid timezone confusion when stored in UTC. Most databases, APIs, and programming languages support them natively.
What is the year 2038 problem?
The year 2038 problem affects older 32-bit systems that store timestamps as a 32-bit integer. On January 19, 2038, that number overflows back to a negative value, potentially causing errors. Most modern 64-bit systems are not affected.
What is the difference between a timestamp in seconds and milliseconds?
Traditional Unix timestamps are in seconds (10 digits). JavaScript's Date.now() returns milliseconds (13 digits). If your timestamp is 13 digits, divide by 1,000 to get the seconds-based version this tool uses.
How do I get the current Unix timestamp in different programming languages?
In JavaScript: Math.floor(Date.now()/1000). In Python: import time; int(time.time()). In PHP: time(). In MySQL: UNIX_TIMESTAMP(). In Bash: date +%s. In Go: time.Now().Unix(). All of these return the current number of seconds since January 1, 1970 00:00:00 UTC.
What is the maximum Unix timestamp value?
The maximum for a 32-bit signed integer is 2,147,483,647 — which corresponds to January 19, 2038 at 03:14:07 UTC. This is the Year 2038 problem. Systems that store timestamps as 64-bit integers (which most modern systems do) will not overflow until the year 292,277,026,596, so this is only a concern for very old embedded systems and legacy databases.
How do I convert a date between time zones using a timestamp?
Unix timestamps are always in UTC — they have no time zone. To display a timestamp in a local time zone, convert from UTC to the target offset. In JavaScript, new Date(timestamp * 1000).toLocaleString('en-US', {timeZone: 'America/New_York'}) handles this automatically. Storing dates as UTC timestamps and converting at display time is the best practice for any application with international users.
How It Works
Unix timestamps count the seconds elapsed since the Unix epoch: January 1, 1970 at 00:00:00 UTC. This tool uses JavaScript's new Date(timestamp * 1000) to convert a Unix timestamp to a human-readable date, and Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) to read the current timestamp from the browser's clock.
Seconds vs Milliseconds
Unix timestamps in seconds are 10 digits (e.g., 1700000000). JavaScript timestamps in milliseconds are 13 digits (e.g., 1700000000000). The extra three digits represent thousandths of a second. Always check which format an API expects — sending milliseconds to an endpoint expecting seconds produces a date far in the future.
Why UTC Matters
Unix timestamps are always in UTC. Time zone conversion happens at display time, not storage time. Storing dates as UTC timestamps and converting to the user's time zone at the front end is the correct architecture for any app with international users — it prevents daylight saving time bugs and simplifies date arithmetic.
When to Use This
Use to decode a timestamp from an API response or log file to see the human-readable date, to convert a specific date into a Unix timestamp for use in a query or API call, to check if a token or session expiry timestamp has already passed, or to debug time zone issues in a production system.
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