Unix Timestamp Converter
Convert between Unix timestamps and human-readable dates. All calculations happen locally.
About Unix Timestamps
A Unix timestamp is the number of seconds elapsed since 1 January 1970 00:00:00 UTC (the Unix Epoch). It is timezone-independent and used universally in computing, databases, and APIs. See: MDN Date reference. Read more: Timestamp Conversion Methods Across Programming Languages.
JavaScript's Date.now() returns milliseconds — divide by 1000 to get seconds. Format timestamp-heavy JSON responses with the JSON Formatter.
Common Use Cases
- Database timestamps — storing event times
- JWT expiry —
expis a Unix timestamp. Decode full tokens with the JWT Debugger. - Log files — precise event ordering
- Cache control — expiration times
- API responses — encode timestamp values with the URL Encoder for query strings
- Scheduling — future event planning. Hash event IDs with the Hash Generator.
Key Facts
- Always in UTC — convert to local time for display
- 32-bit max is
2147483647(Jan 2038) - JavaScript uses milliseconds internally
- Negative values represent dates before 1970
- Leap seconds are not counted
- Encode timestamps as Base64 for storage: Base64 Encoder
How to Use the Unix Timestamp Converter
Choose a direction
Select → Date to convert a Unix timestamp to a human-readable date, or → Timestamp to go the other way.
Enter your value
Paste a Unix timestamp (in seconds) into the number field, or use the date/time picker to select a specific moment.
Use "Now" for the current time
Click Use Now to instantly populate the current Unix timestamp or current local date — useful for quick checks.
Copy the result
Click Copy Result to copy the converted value to your clipboard, ready to paste into code, APIs, or databases.
Frequently Asked Questions
Seconds vs milliseconds?
Unix timestamps are conventionally in seconds. JavaScript's Date.now() returns milliseconds. Divide by 1000 to get seconds; multiply by 1000 to feed into new Date().
What is the Y2K38 problem?
32-bit signed integers overflow on 19 January 2038. Modern systems use 64-bit integers and won't have this issue.
Are timestamps timezone-aware?
No. A Unix timestamp always represents a moment in UTC. Timezone conversion is done at display time.
Why are some APIs in milliseconds?
JavaScript popularised millisecond precision. Always check the API docs — look at the number of digits: 10 digits = seconds, 13 digits = milliseconds.