How to use the Unix Timestamp Converter
- 1. Pick a directionTimestamp to date, or date to timestamp.
- 2. Enter your valuePaste the number, or pick a date and its time zone.
- 3. Read the resultSee IST, UTC, ISO 8601, seconds and milliseconds together.
What a Unix timestamp is
A Unix timestamp counts the time passed since 1 January 1970, 00:00:00 UTC. Servers and databases like it because it is one plain number with no time zone confusion. The catch is that people cannot read it.
For example, 1700000000 means 14 November 2023 at 10:13:20 PM UTC. In India, that is 15 November 2023 at 3:43:20 AM, because IST is 5 hours and 30 minutes ahead of UTC. A timestamp of 0 is 1 January 1970 at 5:30 AM IST.
Seconds or milliseconds?
Most languages and databases use seconds, which is a 10-digit number today. JavaScript's Date.now() and Java use milliseconds, which is 13 digits. Mixing them up is a very common bug: a date that shows up in 1970 usually means seconds were read as milliseconds, and a date far in the future means the reverse.
The tool detects the unit from the size of the number and tells you which one it used. You can also set it yourself. Numbers with 16 or more digits are likely microseconds or nanoseconds, so the tool asks you to shorten them.
Date to timestamp mode treats your date as IST or UTC, whichever you pick, and not as your device's time zone. India has no daylight saving, so IST stays the same all year.
Reading an exp value from a token? The JWT decoder shows it directly. Scheduling a job? Try the cron expression generator.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get the current timestamp?
Open this page. The box starts with the current time in seconds.
How do I tell seconds from milliseconds?
Today, seconds have 10 digits and milliseconds have 13. The tool detects this automatically.
Is IST the only time zone shown?
It shows both IST and UTC, plus the ISO 8601 format in UTC.
Is this tool free?
Yes, it is free. We ask for your name and WhatsApp number once when you see your result, and other Uncodemy tools then open without the form.