About This Tool
This converts between the relative phrasing you see in interfaces, such as three minutes ago, and a numeric timestamp. Set a reference time or press Fill with now, then enter a timestamp or date to get the phrase; flip the direction and it works out which instant three minutes ago points to. Reading and display can use your local zone or UTC, and the UTC offset actually applied is printed with the result.
The unit of a numeric timestamp is detected from its digit count. Up to 11 digits is read as seconds and 13 or more as milliseconds, with the reasoning shown in the result. A 12-digit value gives a plausible year either way, so the tool refuses to guess and asks you to pick. Values of 16 digits or more look like microseconds or nanoseconds, which are outside what this tool handles. The phrase changes unit at 45 seconds, 45 minutes, 22 hours and 26 days, then rounds. Current as of October 2026.
Months and years are converted with the averages 30.44 days and 365.25 days rather than calendar arithmetic, so the count can differ from calendar months between two specific dates; the result states which method was used. Where daylight saving applies, a local time can be missing or occur twice, and the tool says so when the time you typed does not exist locally. Clock drift between a server and a client is not corrected.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ten digits counts seconds since 1970 and thirteen counts milliseconds. Reading seconds as milliseconds lands you in early 1970, and the reverse lands you tens of thousands of years out, so this tool prints the digit count and the reasoning it used.
Relative time displays normally convert with average lengths. This tool uses 30.44 days per month and 365.25 days per year and states that in the result. If you need calendar months between two dates, use a tool that counts days between dates.
It does not convert between named time zones or correct server clock drift. It only turns a difference from the reference time into a phrase, and back again.