Epoch or Unix Timestamp Conversion Tools

What is Epoch Time?

Epoch time, also known as Unix time, POSIX time, or Unix timestamp, represents the number of seconds elapsed since 00:00:00 UTC on Thursday, January 1, 1970, excluding leap seconds. It's widely used in computing systems to store time in a standardized way.

Why is Epoch Time Used?

Epoch time is used because it's language-independent and easy to compare. Since it measures the number of seconds passed since a fixed reference point (the Unix Epoch), it helps simplify time calculations, such as sorting events by date or calculating durations between timestamps.

Human-Readable vs Epoch Time

Converting Epoch time to human-readable dates involves a specific format like: "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS". Many systems internally store time as Epoch, but display it in user-friendly formats for people to easily understand.

Why 1970?

The selection of January 1, 1970, as the Unix Epoch date is somewhat arbitrary but stems from the start of Unix timekeeping at Bell Labs in the early 1970s. This date was chosen for its alignment with the first practical implementation of the Unix operating system.

Epoch Time Overflow (Y2K38 Problem)

Like the Y2K bug in the year 2000, Epoch time has an issue known as the Y2K38 problem. Since it is stored as a 32-bit signed integer, it will overflow (go back to zero) at 03:14:07 UTC on January 19, 2038. Modern systems use 64-bit integers to prevent this issue.

Leap Seconds and Epoch Time

Leap seconds are occasionally added to align the atomic time scale with Earth's slowing rotation. Epoch time ignores leap seconds and represents time as continuous seconds, making calculations simpler but potentially leading to slight discrepancies.

Not Just UNIX – Other Systems and Formats

While Unix-based systems use Epoch time extensively, other systems use different starting points for their time counting, such as the Microsoft FILETIME (which starts on January 1, 1601) or Apple's Cocoa date (which starts in 2001).