# Convert Unix Timestamp to Date and Time in JavaScript

> Convert Unix timestamps to readable dates using the JavaScript Date object, with formatting examples for ISO strings, locale strings, and individual components

**URL:** https://sentry.io/answers/convert-unix-timestamp-to-date-and-time-in-javascript/

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## The Problem

I have a set of Unix timestamps that I would like to convert into human-readable dates and times. How can I do this in JavaScript?

## The Solution

The Unix timestamp is an integer that represents times according to the number of seconds since midnight on the 1st of January, 1970. For example:

* 20 seconds and 13 minutes past 1 am on the 10th of August 2023 can be written as 1691622800.
* 12 seconds and 12 minutes past 12 pm on December 12, 2012 can be written as 1355307132.
* 11 seconds and 11 minutes past 11 am on November 11, 1918 can be written as -1613832529.

To convert these into human-readable dates and times, we can use JavaScript's `Date` object. This object's constructor takes a value similar to a Unix timestamp, but in milliseconds rather than seconds. Therefore, to use a Unix timestamp, we must multiply it by 1000.

```javascript
const myUnixTimestamp = 1691622800; // start with a Unix timestamp

const myDate = new Date(myUnixTimestamp * 1000); // convert timestamp to milliseconds and construct Date object

console.log(myDate); // will print "Thu Aug 10 2023 01:13:20" followed by the local timezone on browser console
```

As shown above, printing out a `Date` object will show its date and time in a standard, human-readable format. [Built-in methods](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date#other_ways_to_format_a_date) are available for formatting it in ISO-standard format (a simplified version of [ISO 8601](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601)) and according to the user's locale (e.g. showing D-M-Y for European users and M-D-Y for American users).

```javascript
console.log(myDate.toISOString()); // will print "2023-08-10T01:13:20.000Z"
console.log(myDate.toLocaleString()); // output will vary based on system locale settings
```

We can use other methods to output only the date or only the time components:

```javascript
console.log(myDate.toDateString()); // will print "Thu Aug 10 2023"
console.log(myDate.toTimeString()); // will print "01:13:20" followed by the local timezone
```

Finally, we can also use this `Date` object to retrieve and output individual parts of the date or time using its [instance methods](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date#instance_methods).

```javascript
console.log(myDate.getFullYear()); // will print 2023
console.log(myDate.getMonth()); // will print 7 (August; January would be 0)
console.log(myDate.getDate()); // will print 10
console.log(myDate.getHours()); // will print 1
console.log(myDate.getMinutes()); // will print 13
console.log(myDate.getSeconds()); // will print 20
```

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*Source: [sentry.io/answers/convert-unix-timestamp-to-date-and-time-in-javascript/](https://sentry.io/answers/convert-unix-timestamp-to-date-and-time-in-javascript/)*