What is the Unix epoch?

The Unix epoch is January 1, 1970 00:00:00 UTC. All Unix timestamps count seconds from this moment.

What timestamp is now?

Current Unix timestamp is approximately 1700000000+ (varies by second). You can get it in JavaScript with Date.now()

What happens in 2038?

On January 19, 2038 at 03:14:07 UTC, the 32-bit signed integer overflows. This is the Year 2038 problem. Most modern systems use 64-bit and are unaffected.

Unix Timestamp

The time format used by computers worldwide

The Epoch: January 1, 1970 00:00:00 UTC

1704067200

Current Unix timestamp

What is Unix Timestamp?

The Unix timestamp (also called epoch time, POSIX time, or Unix time) counts the number of seconds since January 1, 1970 00:00:00 UTC. It does NOT count leap seconds.

Common Timestamp Conversions

0Jan 1, 1970

1000000000Sep 9, 2001

1609459200Jan 1, 2021

1704067200Jan 1, 2024

1735689600Jan 1, 2025

Code Examples

// JavaScript
Date.now()  // milliseconds
Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000)  // seconds

// Python
import time
time.time()  // seconds

// Unix command line
date +%s  // current timestamp

// Convert back
date -d @1704067200

The Year 2038 Problem

On January 19, 2038 at 03:14:07 UTC, the 32-bit signed integer overflows (2147483647). This causes issues in older 32-bit systems.

Modern 64-bit systems are unaffected. Most new systems use 64-bit integers which won't overflow for ~292 billion years.

Tools: Epoch Converter