Unix Timestamp Converter Online: The Complete Guide

Seconds (10 digits)

Used by: Unix systems, databases, JWT exp/iat claims, Python datetime

Milliseconds (13 digits)

Used by: JavaScript Date.now(), Java System.currentTimeMillis(), many REST APIs

Unix timestamp to human-readable date

Open the Timestamp Converter, paste the Unix timestamp in the input field, and the readable date appears instantly. Both UTC and local time are shown. Works for seconds and milliseconds.

Date/time to Unix timestamp

Enter a date string (ISO 8601 format recommended: 2024-05-06T20:53:20Z) and the tool outputs the corresponding Unix timestamp in both seconds and milliseconds.

Current time

Many tools show the current Unix timestamp live, useful for quick reference when writing tests, setting token expiry times, or checking log timestamps.

Decoding JWT exp and iat claims

JWT tokens store expiry (exp) and issued-at (iat) as Unix timestamps in seconds. After decoding a JWT with the JWT Decoder, paste the exp value into the timestamp converter to see the exact expiry date and time.

Reading log file timestamps

Application logs from systems like Nginx, Kubernetes, and cloud providers often include Unix timestamps. Convert them instantly to understand the sequence of events during an incident.

Database timestamp inspection

Many databases store timestamps as Unix integers for performance. When inspecting rows directly in a database client, paste the stored value to convert it to a readable date for debugging.

Setting future expiry times

When creating API tokens, cache TTLs, or scheduled jobs that need a specific expiry time, convert your target date to a Unix timestamp to use as the exact value in configuration or code.

JavaScript / TypeScript

// Current timestamp
const seconds = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);
const ms = Date.now();

// Unix to Date
const date = new Date(1715000000 * 1000);

// Date to Unix
const ts = Math.floor(new Date('2024-05-06').getTime() / 1000);

Python

import time
from datetime import datetime, timezone

# Current timestamp
ts = int(time.time())

# Unix to datetime
dt = datetime.fromtimestamp(1715000000, tz=timezone.utc)

# datetime to Unix
ts = int(datetime(2024, 5, 6, tzinfo=timezone.utc).timestamp())

Go

import "time"

// Current timestamp
ts := time.Now().Unix()

// Unix to Time
t := time.Unix(1715000000, 0).UTC()

// Time to Unix
ts = time.Date(2024, 5, 6, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC).Unix()

What is the current Unix timestamp?

You can get the current Unix timestamp in JavaScript with Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000), in Python with int(time.time()), and in the terminal with date +%s on Linux/macOS.

Why do some APIs use timestamps in nanoseconds?

High-performance systems (financial trading, distributed databases like InfluxDB) use nanosecond precision (19-digit integers) for sub-millisecond event ordering. These are less common in standard REST APIs but appear in observability and time-series tools.

Is Unix time timezone-independent?

Yes. Unix timestamps always represent a single moment in UTC time. Timezone conversion happens at display time only. This is one of the key advantages: storing timestamps as Unix integers avoids timezone ambiguity entirely.

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

ISO 8601 is a human-readable date format standard: 2024-05-06T20:53:20Z. It can represent the same moment as a Unix timestamp. Many APIs accept both formats; Unix timestamps are more efficient for storage and arithmetic, while ISO 8601 is more readable.

How do I handle daylight saving time with Unix timestamps?

Unix timestamps are immune to DST. Since they represent UTC seconds, there is no DST ambiguity in the stored value. DST only affects the local-time display of a timestamp, not the value itself. Always store and transmit timestamps in UTC.