Unix timestamp converter

Convert epoch timestamps to human dates and back. Paste a value from a log file or generate the epoch for any datetime.

Current epoch (seconds)

—

Epoch → human date

Invalid timestamp

Human date → epoch

Invalid date

What a Unix timestamp actually is

A Unix timestamp is the number of seconds elapsed since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC (the "Unix epoch") — a single integer that unambiguously represents a moment in time regardless of timezone, which is exactly why databases, logs, and APIs store dates this way instead of a formatted string. Converting it to a human-readable date requires knowing which timezone you want it displayed in; the timestamp itself has no timezone, only the display does.

Seconds vs. milliseconds — the common gotcha

Unix timestamps are traditionally seconds-based (10 digits for current dates), but JavaScript's Date.now() and many modern APIs return milliseconds (13 digits) instead — feeding a millisecond timestamp into a tool or function expecting seconds lands you in the year 1970-something, and vice versa lands you thousands of years in the future. Checking the digit count is the fastest sanity check before debugging further.

Why did converting my timestamp give a date in 1970 or the far future?

Almost certainly a seconds/milliseconds mismatch — a 13-digit millisecond timestamp interpreted as seconds lands far in the future; a 10-digit second timestamp interpreted as milliseconds lands in early 1970. Check the digit count (10 = seconds, 13 = milliseconds) before assuming the timestamp itself is wrong.

Does a Unix timestamp include timezone information?

No — a Unix timestamp is always seconds since the epoch in UTC, with no timezone attached at all. Any timezone you see is applied only when the timestamp gets converted to a human-readable date; the underlying number itself is timezone-agnostic.

What happens when Unix timestamps run out in 2038?

Systems storing the timestamp as a signed 32-bit integer will overflow on January 19, 2038 (the “Year 2038 problem”) — this affects some older 32-bit systems specifically; modern 64-bit systems use a wider integer and won't hit this limit for billions of years.

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