How to use this converter
- Paste a timestamp in the first box, or press "Now" for the current one. You'll see the date in UTC and in your own time zone.
- Leave the unit on "Detect" unless you know it. Timestamps with 12 or more digits are read as milliseconds, as JavaScript and many APIs use.
- To go the other way, pick a date and time, say which time zone it's in, and copy the timestamp.
What is a Unix timestamp?
A Unix timestamp (also called epoch time or POSIX time) counts the seconds since 00:00:00 UTC on 1 January 1970, not counting leap seconds. It's the same number everywhere in the world at the same moment, which is why computers use it to store times. Negative numbers are dates before 1970.
Worked examples
Frequently asked questions
What happens in 2038?
Older systems store timestamps as a signed 32-bit number, whose largest value is 2,147,483,647: 03:14:07 UTC on 19 January 2038. One second later those systems overflow. Modern systems use 64-bit numbers and are not affected.
Why is my converted time an hour out?
Usually the time zone. A timestamp is always UTC; your local time depends on your device's time zone and daylight saving time. When converting a date to a timestamp, make sure you've chosen the time zone the date was written in.
Does the timestamp include leap seconds?
No. Unix time treats every day as exactly 86,400 seconds, so leap seconds are not counted.