# JavaScript: Get the Current Date and Timestamp

> Create a timestamp with Date.now() or a new Date() object to get the current date and time in JavaScript, then format it for display in the user's timezone

**URL:** https://sentry.io/answers/how-do-i-get-the-current-date-in-javascript/

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## The Problem

You want to get the current date in JavaScript, for example, to add a date stamp to your blog post or to blog post comments. How do you get the current date in JavaScript?

## The Solution

Create a timestamp using the [`Date.now()`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date/now) method. This represents the number of milliseconds elapsed since 1 January 1970 00:00:00 UTC ([ECMAScript epoch](https://tc39.es/ecma262/multipage/numbers-and-dates.html#sec-time-values-and-time-range)), with leap seconds ignored:

```javascript
const currentTime = Date.now();
console.log(currentTime); // 1669634159760
```

For example, you can create and save the timestamp when a blog post or comment is added to your database. When you want to display the date, you can convert the timestamp to a date and format it as needed. The `.toString()` method on the `Date` object returns a string representation of the date and time in the user's timezone:

```javascript
const dateToShow = new Date(currentTime);
console.log(dateToShow.toString()); // Mon Nov 28 2022 13:15:59 GMT+0200 (South Africa Standard Time)
```

You can also create a new [`Date` object](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date), which represents a single moment in time, and save the date as a UTC timezone timestamp:

```javascript
const currentTime = new Date();
console.log(currentTime.toUTCString()); // Mon, 28 Nov 2022 11:24:21 GMT
```

You can then convert the timestamp to a date and format it as needed:

```javascript
const dateToShow = new Date(currentTime);
console.log(dateToShow.toString()); // Mon Nov 28 2022 13:24:21 GMT+0200 (South Africa Standard Time)
```

You can format the date using one of the various formatting methods on the `Date` object, such as `.toString()`, as described in our answer to the following question: [How do I Format a Date in JavaScript?](https://sentry.io/answers/how-do-i-format-a-date-in-javascript/).

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*Source: [sentry.io/answers/how-do-i-get-the-current-date-in-javascript/](https://sentry.io/answers/how-do-i-get-the-current-date-in-javascript/)*