Unix Timestamp Converter
Convert epoch time to date, date to timestamp, and see the current unix time live.
Seconds (and milliseconds) elapsed since Jan 1, 1970 00:00:00 UTC
What Is a Unix Timestamp?
A Unix timestamp (also called epoch time or POSIX time) is the number of seconds that have elapsed since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC — a moment known as the Unix Epoch. It is the most widely used system for tracking time in computing, found in databases, log files, APIs, and programming languages worldwide.
Seconds vs Milliseconds
Most programming languages and databases store unix time in seconds (e.g., 1711900800).
JavaScript's Date.now() and many modern APIs return milliseconds (e.g., 1711900800000),
which have 13 digits for current dates. This epoch converter automatically detects which format you entered.
Why Use a Unix Timestamp Converter?
Raw epoch numbers are not human-readable. An epoch to date converter lets you
quickly check what 1700000000 means without writing any code.
Conversely, a date to timestamp tool is invaluable when writing database queries,
debugging API responses, or calculating time differences in scripts.
The Year 2038 Problem
Older 32-bit systems store unix timestamps as a signed 32-bit integer, which overflows on
January 19, 2038. This unix timestamp converter uses JavaScript's native
64-bit floating-point numbers and the Date API, which handles dates well beyond year 9999,
completely avoiding the Year 2038 limitation.
Common Uses
The current unix timestamp is used in: JWT token expiry fields (exp, iat),
HTTP caching headers (Last-Modified, Expires),
database records (created_at, updated_at),
log file correlation across distributed systems,
and cryptographic signatures.
A reliable unix time converter is an essential tool in every developer's toolkit.