How to use the Unix timestamp converter
- To convert a timestamp to a date, type the number of seconds into the timestamp field. The local and UTC dates update as you type.
- To get the current timestamp, click Use current timestamp. The field fills with the number of seconds since January 1, 1970.
- To convert a date to a timestamp, type a date into the date field, for example 2026-09-21 14:30. The equivalent timestamp appears below it.
What a Unix timestamp is
A Unix timestamp counts the seconds that have passed since the Unix epoch: midnight UTC on January 1, 1970. The number 0 means exactly that instant, and the value grows by one every second. It is the most common way computers store time because it is a single plain number that works in every programming language and database, with no time-zone confusion in the stored value itself.
The same timestamp represents a different wall-clock time in different parts of the world, which is why this tool shows both local time and UTC. UTC is the universal reference, and your local time is UTC shifted by your device's time-zone offset.
Seconds vs. milliseconds
Some systems, especially JavaScript, measure the epoch in milliseconds rather than seconds. A millisecond timestamp is a thousand times larger — for example, the current time is roughly 1.7 trillion in milliseconds but about 1.7 billion in seconds. This tool expects seconds, so if you have a millisecond value, divide it by 1,000 first, or drop the last three digits.
Common uses
| Context | Why timestamps appear |
|---|---|
| Log files | Servers stamp each line with a Unix timestamp for compact, sortable time. |
| APIs | Responses return dates as timestamps that need converting to read. |
| Databases | Timestamp columns store time as integers for fast range queries. |
| Cookies and tokens | Expiry times are often expressed in Unix seconds. |