Unix Timestamp Converter
Convert epoch time to human dates — and back
The Unix Timestamp Converter translates epoch time — the number of seconds since January 1, 1970 UTC — into a readable date, and any date back into a timestamp. It shows a live current timestamp you can copy with one click.
Paste anything: a 10-digit seconds timestamp (1752432000), a 13-digit milliseconds timestamp from JavaScript (1752432000000), or a date string like 2026-07-13 18:00. The converter detects the format automatically and returns Unix seconds, milliseconds, ISO 8601 UTC, your local time, and a relative description ("3 days ago").
Why Unix time exists
Computers need a timezone-free, arithmetic-friendly way to store moments in time. A single integer counting seconds from a fixed origin does exactly that: comparing, sorting, and subtracting dates becomes plain integer math. Databases, log files, JWTs, and APIs all speak Unix time — humans just need a converter to read it.
Example
A log entry shows 1752432000. Ten digits means seconds.
1752432000 seconds after Jan 1 1970 UTC = July 13, 2026, 18:40 UTC. In JavaScript milliseconds, the same instant is 1752432000000.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Unix timestamp?
A Unix timestamp (epoch time) is the number of seconds elapsed since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC — the 'Unix epoch'. It's a single integer with no timezone information, which makes it ideal for storing and comparing moments in time across systems.
How do I convert a Unix timestamp to a date?
Multiply by 1000 if it's in seconds, then feed it to your language's date constructor: JavaScript new Date(ts * 1000), Python datetime.fromtimestamp(ts), SQL to_timestamp(ts). Or paste it into the converter above for instant results in UTC and your local timezone.
Is a Unix timestamp in seconds or milliseconds?
Classic Unix time is seconds, but JavaScript's Date.now() and Java's System.currentTimeMillis() return milliseconds. A quick tell: current timestamps have 10 digits in seconds and 13 digits in milliseconds. This converter detects both automatically.
How do I get the current Unix timestamp?
This page shows it live at the top with a copy button. In code: JavaScript Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000), Python int(time.time()), PHP time(), Linux shell date +%s, PostgreSQL extract(epoch from now()).
What timezone is a Unix timestamp in?
None — and that's the point. Unix time counts seconds from a fixed UTC instant, so the same timestamp represents the same moment everywhere on Earth. Timezones only appear when you format it for display; the raw number is timezone-free.
What is the year 2038 problem?
Systems storing Unix time as a signed 32-bit integer overflow on January 19, 2038, at 03:14:07 UTC, when the count exceeds 2,147,483,647. Modern 64-bit systems are unaffected (good for ~292 billion years), but embedded devices and legacy databases may still be at risk.
Can Unix timestamps be negative?
Yes — negative values represent moments before January 1, 1970. For example, −86400 is December 31, 1969. Most languages handle negative timestamps correctly, though some older APIs and databases reject them.
Do Unix timestamps include leap seconds?
No. Unix time pretends every day has exactly 86,400 seconds. When a leap second occurs, Unix time repeats or smears a second rather than counting it. For everyday use this is irrelevant; for sub-second scientific timing, it matters.
How do I convert a date to a Unix timestamp in Excel or Google Sheets?
Use =(A1 - DATE(1970,1,1)) * 86400 where A1 holds your date (assumes the date is in UTC). To go the other way: =A1/86400 + DATE(1970,1,1), then format the cell as a date.
Why does my timestamp show the wrong date?
The most common cause is a seconds/milliseconds mix-up: passing seconds where milliseconds are expected gives a date in January 1970; passing milliseconds as seconds gives a date tens of thousands of years in the future. Check the digit count — 10 digits is seconds, 13 is milliseconds.
What is ISO 8601 and how does it relate to Unix time?
ISO 8601 is the standard human-readable datetime format: 2026-07-13T18:40:00Z (the Z means UTC). It represents the same instant a Unix timestamp does, but readably and with explicit timezone offset. APIs typically accept both; logs and tokens usually use Unix time for compactness.
How do timestamps work in JWT tokens?
JWT claims like exp (expiry), iat (issued at), and nbf (not before) are Unix timestamps in seconds. If a token 'expires immediately', check you're not writing milliseconds into exp — a 13-digit value is read as a date thousands of years away, or rejected outright.