Unix Timestamp Converter
Convert between Unix epoch time and human-readable dates — live clock, instant conversion.
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, 00:00:00 UTC — a moment known as the Unix epoch. It provides a simple, universal way to represent a specific point in time as a single number, independent of time zones, daylight saving time, or calendar formats. For example, the timestamp 1700000000 represents November 14, 2023, 22:13:20 UTC.
Why Do Developers Use Unix Timestamps?
Unix timestamps are used throughout software development because they are timezone-independent (the same number means the same moment everywhere), easy to compare (is event A before event B? just compare two numbers), compact (one integer instead of a formatted date string), and universal (every programming language can work with them). Databases, APIs, log files, and JWT tokens all commonly store time as Unix timestamps.
Seconds vs Milliseconds
The original Unix timestamp counts seconds since the epoch. However, JavaScript's Date.now() returns milliseconds, and many APIs use millisecond timestamps. A 10-digit number (like 1700000000) is in seconds; a 13-digit number (like 1700000000000) is in milliseconds. This converter handles both — enter either format and it will detect which one you mean.