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Timestamp Converter

Convert Unix timestamps (seconds or milliseconds) to human-readable dates in any timezone, and convert dates back to Unix time. Supports ISO 8601 and RFC 2822 formats — ideal for reading API responses, server logs and database records.

00:00:00
Unix: 0 | UTC: —

Timestamp → Human Date

Human Date → Timestamp

Time Difference Calculator

Common Timestamps

  • 0 — Unix Epoch (Jan 1, 1970)
  • 1B — Sep 9, 2001
  • 2B — May 18, 2033
  • 2147483647 — Y2K38 Problem

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Free Unix Timestamp Converter

Convert Unix timestamps to human-readable dates and times in any timezone, or convert any date and time to its Unix timestamp equivalent. The live clock displays the current timestamp in real-time. Essential for developers working with APIs, databases and log files.

Features

Live Clock Display

Current Unix timestamp updates in real-time with UTC and local time display.

Timezone Support

Convert timestamps in 18+ major timezones from UTC to Tokyo.

12 Output Formats

ISO 8601, UTC string, local string, day of week, week number, relative time and more.

Time Difference Calc

Calculate the exact difference between any two timestamps in days, hours, minutes and seconds.

Click-to-Copy

Click any result to copy it to clipboard instantly.

ms/µs/ns Support

Handles timestamps in seconds, milliseconds, microseconds and nanoseconds.

Who Uses This Tool?

DevelopersDebug API responses, database records and log files that use Unix timestamps.
Database AdministratorsConvert between stored Unix integers and human-readable datetime values.
Security AnalystsAnalyse log timestamps and calculate time between security events.
Data AnalystsConvert epoch timestamps in CSV exports and data pipelines for analysis.

Common Questions

What is a Unix timestamp?
A Unix timestamp is the number of seconds elapsed since the Unix Epoch — 00:00:00 UTC on 1 January 1970. It is a timezone-independent way to represent a single moment in time.
What is the Y2K38 problem?
On 19 January 2038 at 03:14:07 UTC, 32-bit signed Unix timestamps will overflow (reaching 2,147,483,647). Systems still using 32-bit integers for timestamps will experience issues similar to Y2K.
Why do some timestamps have 13 digits?
13-digit timestamps are in milliseconds (1/1000 of a second) rather than seconds. JavaScript's Date.now() returns milliseconds. Divide by 1000 to convert to seconds.
Are Unix timestamps timezone-aware?
No — a Unix timestamp always represents a specific moment in UTC. Timezone conversion is applied when displaying the timestamp as a human-readable date, not in the timestamp itself.

Pro Tip

Always store timestamps as Unix integers (seconds or milliseconds) in databases — never as formatted strings. Integers are timezone-independent, sortable, comparable with arithmetic, and take less storage space than string representations.

Did You Know?

Jan 1, 1970
The Unix Epoch — Why?
Unix timestamp 0 is midnight on January 1, 1970 UTC because this was a convenient recent date when Unix was being developed at Bell Labs in the early 1970s. They needed a fixed reference point — they chose a recent one. Had they known how widely it would be adopted, they might have chosen a further-future date to delay the Y2K38 problem.
Jan 19, 2038
The Y2K38 Problem
At 03:14:07 UTC on 19 January 2038, 32-bit signed Unix timestamps will overflow (reaching 2,147,483,647 and wrapping to negative). Systems still using 32-bit time will experience errors. Most modern 64-bit systems won't be affected — a 64-bit timestamp won't overflow until year 292,277,026,596.
13 digits
JavaScript Timestamps
JavaScript's Date.now() returns milliseconds since epoch — a 13-digit number (e.g., 1704067200000). Unix timestamps are seconds — 10 digits. Divide a JavaScript timestamp by 1000 to get Unix seconds. This confusion causes bugs in virtually every codebase at some point.

Common Timestamp Values

DescriptionUnix TimestampDateNotes
Unix Epoch01970-01-01 00:00:00 UTCThe beginning
Y2K9466848002000-01-01 00:00:00 UTCThe millennium bug
1 billion seconds10000000002001-09-09 01:46:40 UTCCelebrated by Unix nerds
2 billion seconds20000000002033-05-18 03:33:20 UTCFuture milestone
Y2K3821474836472038-01-19 03:14:07 UTC32-bit overflow
3 billion seconds30000000002065-01-25 05:20:00 UTCFar future
64-bit overflow9.2 × 10^18Year 292,277,026,596Not a concern

You May Also Ask

Why do different systems use different timestamp formats?
Unix (seconds since 1970) is the C/POSIX standard. JavaScript uses milliseconds. Windows uses 100-nanosecond intervals since January 1, 1601 (FILETIME). Excel uses days since January 1, 1900. GPS uses weeks + seconds since January 6, 1980. Each system was designed independently — none anticipated universal adoption. Always document and verify which format a system expects.
What is ISO 8601 and why should I use it?
ISO 8601 is an international standard for date/time representation: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ (e.g., 2024-01-15T14:30:00Z). The Z indicates UTC. It's unambiguous — unlike "01/02/03" which means different dates in different countries. ISO 8601 is sortable as a string, timezone-aware and universally understood. Always use it for APIs, file naming and data storage.
How do I handle daylight saving time in timestamps?
Unix timestamps are always UTC — daylight saving time doesn't affect them. The complexity occurs when converting to/from local time: a "1am ambiguous hour" in autumn can map to two different UTC timestamps. Always store timestamps as UTC Unix integers and only convert to local time for display. Never store local times in your database.

Common Mistakes

Storing local time instead of UTC
Storing "2024-01-15 14:30:00" without timezone info means this value is ambiguous — it's a different moment in time in every timezone.
Always store UTC timestamps. Convert to local time only when displaying to users.
Confusing seconds and milliseconds
A 10-digit timestamp is seconds; 13-digit is milliseconds. Using a millisecond timestamp where seconds are expected gives dates in year 56,000.
Document your timestamp unit explicitly. Always validate: 10 digits = seconds, 13 = ms.
Not accounting for DST transitions
Scheduling "every day at 2am" using local time silently skips one day in spring (2am doesn't exist) and repeats in autumn (2am happens twice).
Schedule using UTC or use a proper timezone-aware scheduling library.