Unix Timestamp Blog
Detailed guides on Unix timestamps, epoch time, timezone handling, JavaScript Date, database storage choices, and the production bugs caused by time conversions.
Linux Time Converter: Unix date Command Examples
Use GNU date on Linux to convert Unix timestamps, parse dates, print UTC, handle milliseconds, and make shell scripts portable across Linux, macOS, BSD, and CI containers.
Read article →End of 2026 Unix Timestamp: 1798761600 vs 1798761599
Use 1798761600 for the end of 2026 when you mean the boundary at 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. Use 1798761599 only when you specifically need the last whole second inside 2026. The safer production pattern is a half-open range: start inclusive, end exclusive.
Read article →Start of 2027 Unix Timestamp: 1798761600 (UTC)
Unix timestamp 1798761600 is the exact UTC boundary where 2027 begins: 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. It is also the exclusive end boundary for 2026 UTC ranges. Use 1798761600000 for millisecond APIs, and calculate local-year boundaries separately when reports use a business timezone.
Read article →What Is UTC Time? Unix Timestamps, Offsets, and Z Time
UTC is the zero-offset time standard used for logs, APIs, databases, Unix timestamps, and internet date strings. A Unix timestamp is counted from 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC; offsets and timezones only change how that same instant is displayed.
Read article →Current Unix Timestamp: Get Epoch Time Now in Code
The current Unix timestamp is now counted from 1970-01-01 UTC. Use seconds for Unix tools, SQL filters, JWT exp claims, and many server APIs; use milliseconds for JavaScript Date, Java currentTimeMillis, browser analytics, and APIs that document 13-digit values. For durations, use a monotonic clock instead of wall-clock now.
Read article →Date to Epoch: Convert Date or Datetime to Unix Timestamp
To convert a date to epoch, decide what timezone the wall-clock value belongs to, parse that date as one real instant, then output Unix seconds or milliseconds. For example, 2026-06-20 09:25 UTC is 1781947500 seconds or 1781947500000 milliseconds. Date-only values mean midnight in the chosen timezone.
Read article →Epoch Converter Guide: Choose the Right Unix Time Tool
Use an epoch converter by identifying the input first: a 10-digit or 13-digit number needs epoch-to-date conversion, while a calendar date needs date-to-epoch conversion. Then verify the unit, timezone, precision, and output format before copying the result into code, SQL, logs, tests, or an API request.
Read article →Epoch Milliseconds to Date - Convert 13-Digit Timestamps
A 13-digit timestamp is usually epoch milliseconds for modern dates. JavaScript Date, Java Instant.ofEpochMilli, .NET FromUnixTimeMilliseconds, MongoDB Date, and Go time.UnixMilli can use milliseconds directly. Python, PHP, SQL, Ruby, and most Unix tools expect seconds, so divide by 1000 at the boundary and keep the unit explicit.
Read article →Epoch Timestamp vs Unix Time vs POSIX Time
In most developer docs, epoch timestamp, Unix timestamp, Unix time, and POSIX time all mean seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. The differences matter when the unit is milliseconds, the epoch is not 1970, the value is before 1970, or leap seconds and standards language are involved.
Read article →Start of 2026 Unix Timestamp: 1767225600 (UTC)
Unix timestamp 1767225600 is the exact UTC boundary where 2026 begins: 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. Use it as the inclusive lower bound for 2026 UTC ranges, convert it to 1767225600000 milliseconds for JavaScript Date, and calculate local-year boundaries separately when reports use a business timezone.
Read article →Unix Time to Date: Convert Epoch Timestamps Without Timezone Bugs
To convert Unix time to a date, first identify the unit: 10 digits usually means seconds, 13 means milliseconds, and 16 means microseconds. Decode the value as one UTC instant, then format that same instant in UTC or in the user's IANA timezone.
Read article →Epoch Time Explained: Unix Timestamp Zero and the 1970 Epoch
Unix timestamp 0 is 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. A Unix timestamp is a timezone-neutral count from that instant: positive numbers move after 1970, negative numbers move before it, and the unit is usually seconds unless the API says milliseconds, microseconds, or nanoseconds.
Read article →JavaScript Date.now(): Get and Convert Unix Timestamps
Date.now() returns Unix time in milliseconds, not seconds. Use Date.now() for wall-clock instants, Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) for Unix seconds, performance.now() for elapsed-time measurement, Intl.DateTimeFormat for timezone display, and Temporal or a date library for serious calendar arithmetic.
Read article →Milliseconds vs Seconds in Unix Timestamps
Modern Unix seconds are usually 10 digits, while Unix milliseconds are usually 13 digits. Divide milliseconds by 1000 for seconds, multiply seconds by 1000 for milliseconds, and treat dates in 1970 or the year 55,000 as unit mismatch warnings.
Read article →10 Common Unix Timestamp Bugs and How to Fix Them
Most timestamp bugs come from three mistakes: the unit is unclear, the timezone is implicit, or wall-clock time is used for elapsed-time logic. This guide shows the symptom, root cause, fix, regression test, and code-search recipe for ten production-grade Unix timestamp bugs.
Read article →JavaScript Timezone Guide: UTC, IANA Zones, and Intl.DateTimeFormat
A JavaScript Date stores one timezone-neutral instant as epoch milliseconds. Use toISOString() for UTC, Intl.DateTimeFormat with an IANA timeZone for display, resolvedOptions().timeZone for the user's zone, and Temporal or a timezone library when converting wall-clock time into UTC.
Read article →How to Store Unix Timestamps in a Database
For event times, store one UTC instant in a native timestamp type whenever the database has a good one: PostgreSQL timestamptz, MySQL DATETIME in UTC, MongoDB BSON Date, or a documented BIGINT epoch value. Store an IANA timezone separately only when you need the user's local wall-clock intent.
Read article →Latest articles
Practical articles on Unix timestamps, timezone handling in JavaScript, database storage strategies, and the timestamp bugs that quietly break production systems.