Convert a Unix epoch timestamp to a readable date, or a date to a timestamp. Seconds, milliseconds, microseconds and nanoseconds are detected automatically, in your local time zone and UTC.
Current Unix time — click to copy
🔒 This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter or upload is sent to our servers.
How to use the Unix Timestamp Converter
- The current timestamp is shown live at the top in both seconds and milliseconds — click either to copy it.
- Paste a timestamp into the first box. The unit is detected from its size; override it if the guess is wrong.
- Or pick a date and time in the second box to get the timestamp for it, in your local zone or in UTC.
About this tool
A Unix timestamp counts the seconds since midnight UTC on 1 January 1970. Because it is a single number with no time zone attached, it is what databases, log files, APIs and JWTs almost always store — and it is unreadable at a glance, which is why this page exists.
The usual confusion is the unit. Unix time proper is in seconds, and that is what C, Python’s time.time(), PHP’s time(), Go and the exp claim in a JWT use. JavaScript’s Date.now(), Java’s currentTimeMillis() and most of the JVM world use milliseconds. Get the two mixed up and a date lands in 1970 or in the year 56000. This page works out which unit you meant from the magnitude of the number and says so, and you can override it.
Everything is computed with your browser’s own date handling, so the local values reflect your machine’s time zone and its daylight-saving rules for that particular date — not a fixed offset. Negative timestamps work too: they are dates before 1970, which some systems reject outright.
Frequently asked questions
What is the current Unix timestamp?
It is shown at the top of this page and updates every second. Click it to copy.
Is a Unix timestamp in seconds or milliseconds?
Unix time is defined in seconds. Milliseconds are a JavaScript and Java convention. A present-day timestamp in seconds is 10 digits; in milliseconds it is 13. If a date comes out in 1970, you passed milliseconds to something expecting seconds.
Does a Unix timestamp have a time zone?
No — it is always counted from midnight UTC, which is what makes it useful. The time zone only enters when you format it for a human. This page shows both your local time and UTC so the difference is visible.
What is the year 2038 problem?
Systems that store the timestamp in a signed 32-bit integer overflow on 19 January 2038, at 2147483647 seconds. Anything using a 64-bit integer, which is now the norm, is unaffected for longer than the universe has existed.
Can I convert a date before 1970?
Yes. Those are negative timestamps and are handled here, though plenty of databases and libraries refuse them.
Why does my timestamp show a different time than my colleague sees?
Because the number is the same but the formatting is local. Compare the UTC row rather than the local row and they will agree.