Timestamp Converter

What is a Unix Timestamp

A Unix timestamp (Epoch Time) represents the number of seconds elapsed since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. It is the most universal time representation in computing — timezone-independent, easy to store, and simple to compare across systems.

Seconds vs Milliseconds

Unix timestamps count from 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC and carry no timezone information — timezone only affects how the value is displayed.

32-bit limit: 2147483647 corresponds to 2038-01-19; 32-bit systems will overflow. Modern systems use 64-bit, which can represent dates billions of years ahead.

Common Use Cases

• API debugging: Quickly verify what date/time a backend timestamp corresponds to
• Log analysis: Convert millisecond timestamps in logs to human-readable times for troubleshooting
• Database inspection: Cross-check stored epoch values against expected dates
• Cross-timezone collaboration: Convert local time to UTC timestamps for sharing with distributed teams

How to Use

1. Paste a timestamp (seconds/milliseconds/microseconds are auto-detected) into the input field and click convert to see the corresponding date and time
2. Alternatively, pick a date and time to generate the corresponding Unix timestamp
3. Switch timezones to view how the same instant displays in different regions

FAQ

Should I store timestamps or date strings?

Timestamps are better for storage and computation — they're integers with no timezone ambiguity, and sort/compare efficiently. Date strings are better for user-facing display.

Why is my conversion result off by several hours?

This is likely a timezone issue. Timestamps are inherently UTC. If you're in UTC+8, local time will be 8 hours ahead of UTC. Check that the correct timezone is selected in the tool.

Does JavaScript's Date.now() return seconds or milliseconds?

Milliseconds. JavaScript uses 13-digit millisecond timestamps. Divide by 1000 to get a standard Unix seconds timestamp.