Unix Timestamp Converter — Developer Code Samples

Unix timestamps represent seconds (or milliseconds) elapsed since January 1, 1970 UTC. Python's datetime module and JavaScript's Date object provide full conversion, formatting, and timezone-aware operations. Essential for log analysis and API development.

Try the interactive version online: Open Unix Timestamp Converter Tool →

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
timestamp	int	Yes	Unix timestamp in seconds (or milliseconds if > 1e10)
timezone	str	No	Target timezone name or UTC offset (default: UTC)
format	str	No	Output format string (strftime syntax, default: ISO 8601)

Returns: Dict with iso8601, human_readable, local_time, day_of_week, and relative_time fields

Code Examples

from datetime import datetime, timezone, timedelta
import time

# Get current Unix timestamp
now_ts = int(time.time())
print(f"Current timestamp: {now_ts}")

# Convert Unix timestamp to readable date (UTC)
ts = 1700000000
dt_utc = datetime.fromtimestamp(ts, tz=timezone.utc)
print(dt_utc.isoformat())              # 2023-11-14T22:13:20+00:00
print(dt_utc.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S UTC'))

# Convert to local time
dt_local = datetime.fromtimestamp(ts)
print(dt_local.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S (local)'))

# Convert to a specific timezone
eastern = timezone(timedelta(hours=-5))  # UTC-5 (EST)
dt_eastern = datetime.fromtimestamp(ts, tz=eastern)
print(dt_eastern.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S EST'))

# Convert datetime to Unix timestamp
dt = datetime(2024, 1, 15, 12, 0, 0, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
ts_back = int(dt.timestamp())
print(ts_back)

# Millisecond timestamp (JavaScript-style)
ts_ms = int(time.time() * 1000)
print(f"Millisecond timestamp: {ts_ms}")
dt_from_ms = datetime.fromtimestamp(ts_ms / 1000, tz=timezone.utc)
print(dt_from_ms.isoformat())

# Format with strftime
print(dt_utc.strftime('%B %d, %Y at %I:%M %p UTC'))  # November 14, 2023 at 10:13 PM UTC

// Get current Unix timestamp (seconds)
const nowSec = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);
console.log(`Current timestamp: ${nowSec}`);

// Current millisecond timestamp
const nowMs = Date.now();
console.log(`Millisecond timestamp: ${nowMs}`);

// Convert Unix timestamp (seconds) to Date
const ts = 1700000000;
const date = new Date(ts * 1000);  // multiply by 1000 for ms
console.log(date.toISOString());   // 2023-11-14T22:13:20.000Z
console.log(date.toUTCString());   // Tue, 14 Nov 2023 22:13:20 GMT
console.log(date.toLocaleDateString()); // locale-dependent

// Format with Intl.DateTimeFormat
const formatter = new Intl.DateTimeFormat('en-US', {
  dateStyle: 'full',
  timeStyle: 'long',
  timeZone: 'America/New_York'
});
console.log(formatter.format(date));

// Convert Date to Unix timestamp
const myDate = new Date('2024-01-15T12:00:00Z');
const tsBack = Math.floor(myDate.getTime() / 1000);
console.log(tsBack);

// Relative time (e.g., "2 hours ago")
function timeAgo(timestamp) {
  const diff = Math.floor((Date.now() / 1000) - timestamp);
  if (diff < 60) return `${diff} seconds ago`;
  if (diff < 3600) return `${Math.floor(diff / 60)} minutes ago`;
  if (diff < 86400) return `${Math.floor(diff / 3600)} hours ago`;
  return `${Math.floor(diff / 86400)} days ago`;
}

# Current Unix timestamp
date +%s

# Current millisecond timestamp
python3 -c "import time; print(int(time.time() * 1000))"

# Convert timestamp to readable date
date -d @1700000000           # Linux
date -r 1700000000            # macOS

# Convert to UTC
date -u -d @1700000000        # Linux
TZ=UTC date -r 1700000000     # macOS

# Convert date string to timestamp
date -d "2024-01-15 12:00:00 UTC" +%s   # Linux
date -j -f "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S" "2024-01-15 12:00:00" +%s  # macOS

# Calculate time difference
ts1=1700000000; ts2=$(date +%s)
echo "$(( (ts2 - ts1) / 86400 )) days ago"

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