Timestamp Converter: Unix Epoch and Date Conversion
Our timestamp converter helps developers and analysts convert between Unix timestamps and human-readable dates. Get results in multiple formats including ISO 8601, RFC 2822, and localized date strings. Supports both seconds and milliseconds.
Unix timestamps are widely used in programming, databases, and APIs to represent exact moments in time. This tool makes it easy to convert between machine-readable timestamps and formats humans can understand.
What Is a Unix Timestamp?
A Unix timestamp (also called Epoch time or POSIX time) represents the number of seconds that have elapsed since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC—the "Unix Epoch." This provides a consistent, timezone-independent way to represent time.
For example, the timestamp 1705320000 represents January 15, 2024, 12:00:00 UTC. Some systems use milliseconds (multiply by 1000), resulting in 13-digit timestamps.
Common Date Formats
ISO 8601: International standard (2024-01-15T12:30:00Z). Used in JSON, APIs, and databases.
RFC 2822: Email standard (Mon, 15 Jan 2024 12:30:00 +0000). Common in email headers.
Unix Timestamp: Seconds or milliseconds since epoch. Used in programming and databases.
Relative Time: Human-friendly ("2 hours ago", "in 3 days").
FAQ
Why use Unix timestamps?
They're timezone-independent, easy to store (just a number), simple to compare (larger = later), and universally understood across programming languages and systems.
What's the Year 2038 problem?
32-bit systems store Unix time as a signed integer, which overflows on January 19, 2038. Modern 64-bit systems don't have this issue. The maximum 32-bit timestamp is 2147483647.
Seconds vs milliseconds?
Standard Unix timestamps use seconds (10 digits). JavaScript and some APIs use milliseconds (13 digits). If your timestamp is 13 digits, check the milliseconds option.