๐ Date Format Converter
Enter a date to see the conversion
Enter a single date and see it instantly converted into ISO 8601 (YYYY-MM-DD), US format (MM/DD/YYYY), EU format (DD/MM/YYYY), Japanese notation, a long English format, and a Unix timestamp โ all at once. Useful for checking or converting date formats that vary by country and culture.
How to use
- Select the date you want to convert.
- The converted result in each format is listed automatically.
- Use the "Copy" button to copy any format you need.
How the calculation works
Date notation varies widely between countries and contexts. The international standard ISO 8601 orders year-month-day (2024-03-04), largest unit first, which has the advantage that the strings sort into date order as plain text. The United States usually writes month/day/year (03/04/2024), while much of Europe writes day/month/year (04/03/2024). This tool reads the date you enter as a single date value and writes it out in each format. A Unix timestamp is the number of seconds since 00:00:00 UTC on 1 January 1970. One thing to note: the Unix timestamp here is computed from midnight in your browser's own time zone. Midnight on 4 March 2024 in Japan is 15:00 on 3 March in UTC, so the value differs from one based on UTC midnight by nine hours (32,400 seconds).
Worked example
Converting 4 March 2024 ISO 8601: 2024-03-04 US style: 03/04/2024 European style: 04/03/2024 "03/04/2024" reads as 4 March in the US and 3 April in Europe. When dealing across borders, writing the month as a word (Mar 4, 2024) or using ISO 8601 avoids confusion. In a browser set to Japan time, the Unix timestamp comes out as 1709478000. UTC midnight on 2024-03-04 is 1709510400 โ exactly 32,400 seconds (nine hours) apart.
Things to be aware of
- The Unix timestamp is based on midnight in your browser's time zone. If you need a UTC-based value, allow for your offset from UTC.
- Times of day are not handled.
- All-numeric dates such as "03/04/2024" swap day and month depending on the country.
- For timestamps that include a time of day, use the Unix timestamp converter.
FAQ
What's the difference between US and EU date formats?
US format orders it month/day/year (MM/DD/YYYY), while EU format orders it day/month/year (DD/MM/YYYY). For example, "03/04/2024" means March 4th in US format but April 3rd in EU format โ a classic source of confusion.
What is a Unix timestamp?
A way of representing a date and time as the number of seconds elapsed since midnight UTC on January 1, 1970. Commonly used in programming and system logs.
Does this convert time (hours, minutes, seconds) too?
No โ this tool only handles the date (year, month, day); no time-of-day information is included (the Unix timestamp is calculated as midnight on that date).