Unix Timestamp to Date Converter — Free Epoch Tool Online

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, at 00:00:00 UTC. It is a universal way to represent a specific moment in time as a single integer, used by virtually every programming language, operating system, and database system. For example, the timestamp 1735689600 represents January 1, 2025 00:00:00 UTC.

Source: Wikipedia — Unix time

What is the current Unix timestamp?

The current Unix timestamp changes every second. Use the live display at the top of this tool to see the current value in real time. As a reference, Unix timestamps in 2026 are in the range of approximately 1.77 billion. The timestamp 1735689600 corresponds to January 1, 2025 00:00:00 UTC, and each day adds 86,400 seconds.

What is epoch time?

Epoch time is another name for Unix timestamp — the number of seconds since the Unix epoch (January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC). The terms 'epoch time', 'Unix time', 'POSIX time', and 'Unix timestamp' are all interchangeable. It is called 'epoch' because the January 1, 1970 date serves as the epoch (reference starting point) from which all time is measured.

Source: POSIX.1-2017 § 4.16 — Seconds Since the Epoch

How do I convert a Unix timestamp to a human-readable date?

Paste the timestamp number into the converter above and it instantly shows the corresponding date and time in UTC, your local timezone, and ISO 8601 format. If doing it programmatically: in JavaScript, use new Date(timestamp * 1000) (multiply by 1000 since JS uses milliseconds). In Python, use datetime.fromtimestamp(timestamp, tz=timezone.utc). In PHP, use date('Y-m-d H:i:s', $timestamp).

How do I convert a date to a Unix timestamp?

Switch to Date-to-Timestamp mode in the converter above, select your date and time, and the corresponding Unix timestamp appears in both seconds and milliseconds. Programmatically: in JavaScript, use Math.floor(new Date('2025-01-01').getTime() / 1000). In Python, use int(datetime(2025, 1, 1, tzinfo=timezone.utc).timestamp()). In PHP, use strtotime('2025-01-01').

How do I get the current Unix timestamp in JavaScript?

Use Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) to get the current Unix timestamp in seconds. Date.now() returns milliseconds since epoch, so dividing by 1000 and flooring gives seconds. Alternatively, use Math.floor(new Date().getTime() / 1000). For millisecond precision (common in JavaScript), just use Date.now() directly.

Source: MDN Web Docs — Date.now()

How do I get the current Unix timestamp in Python?

Use import time; int(time.time()) to get the current Unix timestamp in seconds. For a specific date, use from datetime import datetime, timezone; int(datetime(2025, 1, 1, tzinfo=timezone.utc).timestamp()). The time.time() function returns a float with fractional seconds; wrap it in int() for whole seconds. For pandas DataFrames, convert timestamp columns with pd.to_datetime(df['col'], unit='s').

Source: Python Docs — datetime.fromtimestamp()

How do I get the current Unix timestamp in PHP?

Use the time() function, which returns the current Unix timestamp as an integer in seconds. For a specific date, use strtotime('2025-06-15 12:00:00') or mktime(12, 0, 0, 6, 15, 2025). To convert a timestamp to a formatted date string, use date('Y-m-d H:i:s', $timestamp). PHP also provides the DateTime class for more advanced operations: (new DateTime())->getTimestamp().

Why does Unix time start on January 1, 1970?

January 1, 1970 was chosen by the early Unix developers at Bell Labs (Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson) as a convenient, round date close to when Unix was being developed in the late 1960s. The original Unix time system initially counted in 60ths of a second from 1971, but was later simplified to seconds from January 1, 1970. The POSIX standard formalized this definition, and it has since been adopted by virtually every computing platform.

Source: Wikipedia — Unix time

What is the Year 2038 problem?

On January 19, 2038 at 03:14:07 UTC, 32-bit signed integers will overflow and can no longer store Unix timestamps. The maximum value a signed 32-bit integer can hold is 2,147,483,647, which corresponds to that exact moment. After that second, the value wraps to a negative number, causing dates to jump back to December 13, 1901. Modern 64-bit systems store timestamps with enough range for approximately 292 billion years, so they are unaffected. Most operating systems and databases have already migrated to 64-bit time.

Source: Wikipedia — Year 2038 problem

What is the difference between Unix timestamp seconds and milliseconds?

Standard Unix timestamps count seconds since epoch and are typically 10 digits long (e.g., 1735689600). JavaScript's Date.now() and Java's System.currentTimeMillis() return milliseconds since epoch, which are 13 digits long (e.g., 1735689600000) — exactly 1000 times larger. Always check which unit an API or database expects. If a timestamp has more than 10 digits, it is likely in milliseconds; divide by 1000 to get seconds. This tool auto-detects the unit based on digit count.

How do I convert Unix timestamps in Excel?

Use the formula =(A1/86400)+DATE(1970,1,1) where A1 contains the Unix timestamp in seconds. This divides the total seconds by 86,400 (the number of seconds in a day) and adds the epoch date. For millisecond timestamps, use =(A1/86400000)+DATE(1970,1,1). Format the result cell as a date/time to see the human-readable output. Note: Excel dates are in your local timezone, so adjust by adding or subtracting hours if you need UTC.

How do I create Discord timestamps?

Discord uses Unix timestamps in the format <t:TIMESTAMP:FORMAT>. Replace TIMESTAMP with a Unix timestamp in seconds and FORMAT with a style letter: t (short time, e.g., 9:30 PM), T (long time), d (short date), D (long date), f (short date/time), F (long date/time), or R (relative, e.g., '2 hours ago'). For example, <t:1735689600:F> displays as 'January 1, 2025 12:00 AM'. Use this converter to get the Unix timestamp for any date, then wrap it in the Discord syntax.

How do I convert epoch time to UTC?

Unix timestamps are already in UTC by definition — they represent seconds since January 1, 1970 00:00:00 UTC regardless of your local timezone. When you convert a Unix timestamp to a date, the UTC time is the 'true' time. Your local time is simply UTC adjusted by your timezone offset. This converter shows both UTC and local time simultaneously so you can see both representations instantly.

What is ISO 8601 format and how does it relate to Unix timestamps?

ISO 8601 is the international standard for date-time strings, formatted as YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ (e.g., 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z). The 'T' separates date and time, and 'Z' indicates UTC. While Unix timestamps store time as a single integer (seconds since epoch), ISO 8601 stores it as a human-readable string. Both represent the same moment — they are just different formats. JSON APIs, HTTP headers, and databases commonly use one or both. This tool displays the ISO 8601 equivalent of any Unix timestamp you enter.

Source: ISO — ISO 8601 Date and Time Format