How to use our Unix epoch time converter?
The Unix epoch time converter is very easy to use. First, you will find the current Unix timestamp with the corresponding local time and UTC time. There below you will find the converter.
To convert a Unix timestamp to your local date or to the UTC date, set the Unix timestamp in the first input box. The converter will directly give the corresponding date in your local time and in the UTC time.
To transform a local time in a Unix timestamp, set the time in the second input box. The converter will directly show the corresponding Unix timestamp in the first input box, but also the UTC time in the last input box.
Finally, you can also get the Unix timestamp from a UTC time. For this, you need to fill in the last input box. The converter will give the corresponding Unix timestamp in the first input box, but also the corresponding local time in the second input box.
Table of contents:
- Unix epoch time vs Unix time vs Epoch time vs Posix time vs Seconds since the Epoch vs Unix timestamp
- What is the Unix epoch time?
- Why was the Unix epoch time created?
- Leap seconds
- Limit of the Unix epoch time?
Unix epoch time vs Unix time vs Epoch time vs Posix time vs Seconds since the Epoch vs Unix timestamp
All these different terms are designing the same thing, the Unix epoch time.
What is the Unix epoch time?
The Unix epoch time is a time measurement. It corresponds to the number of seconds since the Unix epoch, excluding leap seconds. The Unix epoch corresponds to the 1 January 1970 at 00:00:00 UTC. So on that date the Unix timestamp was equal to 0 seconds.
Why was the Unix epoch time created?
Conventional dates like “January 1, 1970 – 0:00am” contain a certain number of characters. These characters need to be converted to another format each time they are used. So there was a clear need to store the data as an integer (i.e. “1664915993), which made it easier for computers to store and to work with it for comparison. Indeed, with the Unix timestamp, the computer can make comparison of time with basic math.
Leap seconds
For each elapsed second, the Unix time is increased of one unity. Each day is exactly 86400 seconds for the Unix epoch time and this all the year around. But in the reality the UTC day is not always exactly 86400 seconds. So when the IERS (International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service) decide to add or delete a leap second, the Unix epoch time is not more linear and anomaly occurs. When a leap second is added to the UTC, the time don’t increase in the Unix Time.
Limits of the Unix epoch time?
On a 32 bits system, the computer is able to manage a period of 232 seconds, which correspond to nearly 136 years. The lower boundary has a Unix time of -2 147 483 648 which corresponds in UTC to the 13 December 1901 at 20:45:52. The upper boundary has a Unix time of 2 147 483 647 which corresponds to the 19 January 2038 at 03:14:07. This overflow of the 32 bits Unix time is known has the Year 2038 problem.
This problem will not occur with the 64 bits system. Indeed the boundaries in both directions are approximately of 292 billion years.