Unix Timestamp

Why Use Utiliti's Unix Timestamp Converter?

Timestamps in logs and databases often contain sensitive timing information—when users logged in, when transactions occurred, or when events happened. Many online converters send your timestamps to their servers for processing.

Utiliti's Unix Timestamp Converter runs entirely in your browser. Your timestamps never leave your device, making it safe to convert:

• Server Logs: Parse timestamps from production logs without exposing timing data
• Database Records: Convert timestamps from database exports privately
• API Responses: Decode timestamps from API calls containing sensitive data
• Security Events: Analyze security log timestamps without external exposure

Features

• Live Clock: See the current Unix timestamp updating in real-time
• Bidirectional Conversion: Convert timestamps to dates or dates to timestamps
• Multiple Formats: Automatically detects seconds, milliseconds, microseconds, and nanoseconds
• Time Zone Display: Shows results in both UTC and your local time zone
• Relative Time: See how long ago or in the future a timestamp represents

How to Use

1. Convert timestamp to date: Enter a Unix timestamp in the Timestamp field and click the convert button
2. Convert date to timestamp: Select a date and time using the datetime picker and click convert
3. Copy current time: Use the copy button next to the live clock to grab the current timestamp
4. Toggle precision: Check the Milliseconds box to display the current time in milliseconds

What is a unix timestamp?

A Unix timestamp is a way of representing a point in time as a single number, which is the number of seconds that have elapsed since January 1, 1970, at 00:00:00 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).

The Unix timestamp is widely used in computer systems and programming languages, especially in Unix-based operating systems such as Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD. It is a convenient way of representing time because it is a single number that can be easily stored and manipulated in software.

The Unix timestamp is also sometimes referred to as "Epoch time" or "POSIX time". It can be converted to a human-readable date and time using various software tools and programming libraries.

Timestamp Formats

Unix timestamps come in different precisions depending on the system:

• Seconds: The traditional format, 10 digits (e.g., 1704067200). Used by most Unix systems and databases.
• Milliseconds: 13 digits (e.g., 1704067200000). Common in JavaScript, Java, and modern APIs.
• Microseconds: 16 digits (e.g., 1704067200000000). Used in high-precision logging systems.
• Nanoseconds: 19 digits (e.g., 1704067200000000000). Used in scientific applications and some databases like InfluxDB.

Our converter automatically detects the format based on the number of digits.

Common Use Cases

• Log Analysis: Convert timestamps in server logs to understand when events occurred
• Database Queries: Generate timestamps for date range queries
• API Development: Debug timestamp fields in API requests and responses
• Scheduling: Calculate Unix timestamps for cron jobs or scheduled tasks
• Data Migration: Convert timestamps when moving data between systems

The Year 2038 Problem

Unix timestamps stored as 32-bit signed integers will overflow on January 19, 2038, at 03:14:07 UTC. This is similar to the Y2K problem. Modern systems use 64-bit integers, which won't overflow for approximately 292 billion years. If you're working with legacy systems, be aware of this limitation.