Unix Timestamp to Date Converter

What is a Unix timestamp?

A Unix timestamp (also called epoch time, POSIX time, or Unix time) is the number of seconds that have elapsed since January 1, 1970 at 00:00:00 UTC, not counting leap seconds. It's a universal, timezone-independent way to represent a specific moment in time, which is why it's used everywhere in computing.

You'll find Unix timestamps in API responses, database columns, log files, JWT iat and exp fields, and system configuration files. The problem is that a raw number like 1735689600 doesn't tell you much until you decode it. This tool does that decoding instantly — and it works both ways.

Because timestamps are just numbers, they're perfect for storage and comparison. But for humans, they're useless until you convert them to a readable date. That's exactly what this converter is for.

How to convert a Unix timestamp to a date

1. Paste your timestamp: Enter a Unix timestamp in the input field. The converter automatically detects whether it's in seconds (10-digit values like 1735689600) or milliseconds (13-digit values like 1735689600000).
2. Choose your timezone: Select the IANA timezone you want the result displayed in. Daylight saving time is applied automatically based on the date.
3. Click Convert: The human-readable date appears immediately, along with 10+ output formats you can copy with a single click.
4. Copy what you need: Click any format card to copy the value to your clipboard. The most useful ones are ISO 8601, RFC 2822, Unix seconds, and the local readable string.

Want to go the other way? Click the swap button to switch to date-to-timestamp mode, enter a date and time, and get the corresponding epoch value in both seconds and milliseconds.

Why use this Unix timestamp converter?

Output formats explained

Each conversion gives you the same moment in time expressed in multiple standard formats. Here's what each one is for:

Why IANA timezones matter for timestamp conversion

Most broken timestamp converters have the same root cause: someone stored a fixed number of hours. "New York is 5 hours behind UTC" is true for part of the year — but false for the rest, because New York observes daylight saving time. During those weeks, any converter using a fixed offset is confidently wrong.

This tool solves that problem by naming the place instead of the difference. Timezones have canonical IANA names like America/New_York or Asia/Tokyo, and those names carry all the rules with them — including historical changes, current offsets, and future DST transitions. When a government changes its timezone rules, the IANA database is updated, and your browser picks up the change automatically.

Who uses a Unix timestamp converter?

Developers and DevOps engineers

• Debug API responses and log files where timestamps appear as raw numbers
• Inspect JWT iat and exp claims to check token validity
• Convert database timestamps to readable dates for reports and dashboards
• Understand timestamps in system config files, cron logs, and audit trails

Data analysts and scientists

• Convert epoch columns in CSV or JSON exports to human-readable dates
• Verify the exact moment an event occurred in a dataset
• Check for timezone-related anomalies in time-series data

Students and researchers

• Understand timestamps in academic papers, datasets, and technical documentation
• Convert historical dates to epoch for computational analysis
• Practice with real-world time data for programming assignments

Anyone working with APIs or webhooks

• Decode created_at, updated_at, or expires_at fields from API responses
• Verify webhook delivery timestamps and event ordering
• Check certificate and token expiration times

Frequently asked questions