Unix Timestamp Converter
Turn cryptic epoch timestamps into human dates — or go the other way. Seconds and milliseconds auto-detected, local and UTC shown side by side.
Seconds and milliseconds are detected automatically.
Converted
How to use the timestamp converter
- Paste a Unix timestamp — seconds or milliseconds, it auto-detects.
- Or pick a date and time from the calendar field to convert the other way.
- Click 'Use current time' any time to see right now in every format.
- Read off local time, UTC, and ISO 8601 side by side.
Speaking fluent epoch
Unix timestamps — seconds (or milliseconds) since January 1, 1970 — are how computers quietly record almost every moment: database rows, log lines, API responses, JWT tokens, file metadata. They are compact and timezone-free, which is exactly why developers love them and humans can't read them. The classic gotchas: mixing up seconds and milliseconds (off by a factor of a thousand, landing you in 1970 or the year 50,000), and forgetting that the same timestamp renders differently in every timezone. This converter handles both: it detects seconds vs milliseconds automatically, and shows the moment in your local timezone, in UTC, and in ISO 8601 so there is no ambiguity. Negative timestamps (dates before 1970) work too. Next time a log file shows 1760000000, you will know in one glance whether that was this morning or last Tuesday.
Frequently asked questions
How does it know seconds from milliseconds?
By magnitude. Values around 1.7 billion are seconds; values around 1.7 trillion are milliseconds. Anything at or above one trillion is treated as milliseconds.
Which time zone are results shown in?
Both. You get your browser's local time and UTC side by side, plus ISO 8601 — so there is never timezone confusion.
What is Unix time, exactly?
The number of seconds elapsed since 00:00:00 UTC on January 1, 1970 (the 'epoch'), not counting leap seconds. It is the standard way computers store points in time.
Do negative timestamps work?
Yes — they represent dates before 1970. Try -86400 for December 31, 1969.