Convert between Unix timestamps and human-readable dates, in both directions.
Timestamp to Date
Date to Timestamp
How to Use the Timestamp Converter
To convert a timestamp to a date: enter it, choose Seconds or Milliseconds, and click "Convert to Date" (or click "Use Current Time").
To convert a date to a timestamp: pick a date/time and click "Convert to Timestamp".
Review both the local and UTC representations, or both the seconds and milliseconds values, shown in the result.
How the Conversion Works
A Unix timestamp counts the seconds since midnight UTC on 1 January 1970, a moment known as the Unix epoch. It is the same number everywhere in the world at a given instant, which is why servers, databases and APIs prefer it to a written date and time.
When you convert a timestamp to a date, a seconds value is first multiplied by 1,000, because JavaScript dates work in milliseconds. The result is then shown twice: once in the time zone and date format of your browser, and once in UTC.
When you convert a date to a timestamp, the date and time you pick are read as local time in your browser's time zone. The tool gives the exact millisecond value, and the seconds value with any fraction dropped.
Worked Example in Indian Standard Time
India uses a single time zone, IST, which is UTC+5:30 all year with no daylight saving. On a computer set to IST, picking 2 October 2026 at 10:30 AM in the Date to Timestamp section gives 1790917200 seconds, or 1790917200000 milliseconds.
Going the other way, entering 1790917200 with the unit set to Seconds shows the UTC time as Fri, 02 Oct 2026 05:00:00 GMT, which is five and a half hours behind 10:30 AM IST. The local line shows 10:30 AM, written as 2/10/2026 or 10/2/2026 depending on whether your browser uses an Indian or a US date format.
You can check the arithmetic yourself: a day has 86,400 seconds in Unix time, so adding 86400 to any timestamp moves it forward exactly one day, and an hour is 3,600 seconds.
Reference Timestamps
Timestamp (seconds)
UTC
IST
0
1 Jan 1970, 00:00:00
1 Jan 1970, 05:30:00
1000000000
9 Sep 2001, 01:46:40
9 Sep 2001, 07:16:40
1700000000
14 Nov 2023, 22:13:20
15 Nov 2023, 03:43:20
1800000000
15 Jan 2027, 08:00:00
15 Jan 2027, 13:30:00
2000000000
18 May 2033, 03:33:20
18 May 2033, 09:03:20
2147483647
19 Jan 2038, 03:14:07
19 Jan 2038, 08:44:07
The last row is the largest value a signed 32-bit integer can hold. Older systems that store timestamps in 32 bits will overflow one second later, which is known as the year 2038 problem. Modern systems use 64-bit values and are not affected.
Spotting the Unit and Other Common Mistakes
{{ 'timestamp-converter.guide.tip1' | translate: 'Count the digits. A present-day timestamp in seconds has 10 digits; in milliseconds it has 13. Values from JavaScript, Java and many logging tools are usually milliseconds, while the date command on Linux and PHP's time() function give seconds.' }}
A result in January 1970 means you entered a seconds value with the unit set to Milliseconds. A year tens of thousands of years in the future means the opposite.
The Date to Timestamp section uses your device's time zone. If your laptop is set to UTC or to another country, a time you meant as IST will be off by the difference. Check the UTC line, or set the device clock to India Standard Time, before relying on the value.
Unix time ignores leap seconds, so every day is treated as exactly 86,400 seconds long. For everyday logging and scheduling this makes no practical difference.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Unix timestamp is the number of seconds (or milliseconds) that have elapsed since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC โ widely used in programming to represent a point in time as a single number.
Yes, the converted date is shown in your browser's local timezone, and the UTC value is also shown separately so you can compare both.
Most Unix timestamps (like those from databases or APIs) are in seconds; JavaScript's own Date.now() returns milliseconds. Select the matching unit so the conversion is accurate.
Convert it to UTC first, then add 5 hours 30 minutes. In seconds, that is the same as adding 19,800 to the timestamp and reading the result as UTC. India does not observe daylight saving, so the offset never changes during the year.
Yes. Negative values count backwards from the epoch, so -86400 is 31 December 1969 at 00:00 UTC. This converter accepts negative numbers, which is useful for older dates such as dates of birth stored by some systems.