Unix time counts the seconds elapsed since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC — the 'epoch'. It is how databases store dates, how APIs exchange them, and how log files record events, because a single integer is unambiguous, timezone-free, and trivial to compare. The downside: 1750000000 means nothing to a human.
This converter translates timestamps to readable dates (in both UTC and your local timezone) and converts dates back to timestamps. It handles both seconds and milliseconds — the most common source of off-by-1000 confusion between systems.
How to Use This Tool
- Paste a Unix timestamp to see the human-readable date in UTC and local time.
- Or pick a date and time to get the corresponding timestamp.
- The current timestamp is displayed live for quick reference.
- Watch the seconds vs milliseconds toggle if your timestamp has 13 digits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my timestamp show a date in 1970 or in the far future?
You probably mixed up seconds and milliseconds. JavaScript and many APIs use milliseconds (13 digits today); Unix tradition uses seconds (10 digits). A seconds value interpreted as milliseconds lands in January 1970; the reverse jumps thousands of years ahead.
What is the year 2038 problem?
Systems that store Unix time in a signed 32-bit integer overflow on January 19, 2038. Modern systems use 64-bit integers, which postpone the problem by billions of years, but legacy embedded systems remain affected.
Do timestamps have timezones?
No — that is their superpower. A Unix timestamp is always UTC by definition. Timezones only appear when you format it for display, which is why the same timestamp shows different wall-clock times in Paris and Tokyo.