A Unix Timestamp Converter is a tool used to convert Unix timestamps (also known as POSIX or Epoch timestamps) into human-readable date and time formats and vice versa. A Unix timestamp is the number of seconds that have elapsed since January 1, 1970, at 00:00:00 UTC (known as the Unix Epoch).
Key Concepts:
Unix Timestamp (POSIX time, Epoch time): It's a 32-bit or 64-bit integer value representing the number of seconds that have passed since the Unix Epoch (January 1, 1970).
Human-readable Date & Time: The converted timestamp provides a date and time in formats like YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS, or MM/DD/YYYY, HH:MM:SS AM/PM.
Conversion Examples:
1. Unix Timestamp to Human-readable Date:
For example, the Unix timestamp 1609459200 is:
1609459200
seconds
=
January 1, 2021 00:00:00 UTC
1609459200seconds=January 1, 2021 00:00:00 UTC
2. Human-readable Date to Unix Timestamp:
For example, the date March 1, 2025 00:00:00 UTC corresponds to:
March 1, 2025 00:00:00 UTC
=
1730467200
seconds since Jan 1, 1970
March 1, 2025 00:00:00 UTC=1730467200seconds since Jan 1, 1970
Conversion Tools & Methods:
Unix Timestamp to Human-readable Date:
To convert a Unix timestamp to a human-readable format (like YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS):
Example:
Unix Timestamp: 1635876000
Converted Date: November 3, 2021 00:00:00 UTC
To convert:
Use an online Unix timestamp converter tool (like epochconverter.com).
Or use programming languages like Python, JavaScript, or shell commands to convert.
Human-readable Date to Unix Timestamp:
To convert a human-readable date to Unix timestamp:
Example:
Human-readable Date: January 1, 2023 00:00:00 UTC
Converted Timestamp: 1672531200
To convert:
Use an online tool or app (like unixtimestamp.com).
Or use programming libraries (e.g., Python's time module or JavaScript's Date object).
Manual Conversion:
If you're looking to manually convert between Unix timestamps and human-readable formats, here's a basic formula:
To convert Unix timestamp to date (UTC):
Use the formula:
Date
=
Epoch Date
+
Timestamp (in seconds)
Date=Epoch Date+Timestamp (in seconds)
Use a calculator or programming code to account for leap years, time zones, etc.
To convert date to Unix timestamp:
Subtract the date from January 1, 1970, and count the seconds in between.