time.Unix

Get the current Unix timestamp in Go

Go uses `time.Now()` for an instant and `time.Unix(sec, nsec)` to build one from epoch parts. Unlike many languages, Go encourages nanoseconds via `UnixNano()`.

Format with `time.RFC3339` (ISO 8601) or any custom layout from the reference time "Mon Jan 2 15:04:05 MST 2006".

Current Unix timestamp (seconds)

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "time"
)

func main() {
    now := time.Now().Unix()
    fmt.Println(now) // 1,754,136,000
}

Convert epoch seconds → ISO 8601 (UTC)

t := time.Unix(1754136000, 0).UTC()
fmt.Println(t.Format(time.RFC3339)) // 2025-08-02T12:00:00Z

Real-world use cases for Go

Adding a timestamp to JSON responses from a Go API using time.Now().Unix().
Comparing a stored token expiry against time.Now().Unix() without importing a date library.
Logging request start times as epoch seconds and measuring latency with time.Since().

Unix timestamp (seconds)	ISO 8601 (UTC)
0	1970-01-01T00:00:00.000Z
946,684,800	2000-01-01T00:00:00.000Z
1,754,136,000	2025-08-02T12:00:00.000Z
2,147,483,647	2038-01-19T03:14:07.000Z
2,524,608,000	2050-01-01T00:00:00.000Z

These are the same fixed timestamps used in the Go examples above — every conversion returns one of these values.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get the current Unix timestamp in Go?

time.Now().Unix() returns the current epoch in seconds, and .UnixMilli() / .UnixNano() give you the millisecond and nanosecond variants. All are int64 values, so no overflow worries.

How do I convert an epoch timestamp to a date in Go?

time.Unix(1754136000, 0) builds a time.Time from epoch seconds. Call .UTC() and then t.Format(time.RFC3339) to print the ISO 8601 string, or t.In(loc) to render it in any IANA timezone.

Why does Go use 1_506_330_201 as the reference layout time?

Go formats times by example rather than tokens. The reference time "Mon Jan 2 15:04:05 MST 2006" spells out 01/02/03:04:05/06 so each number uniquely identifies a component in any layout string.

Epoch to human date in Go

Try it live — convert any timestamp in Go-friendly format.

Enter Unix Timestamp

Seconds or milliseconds — the unit is auto-detected. Example: 1735689600

Waiting for input…

Timezone

UTC ISO 8601

–

Local — auto

–

RFC 2822 / GMT

–

Seconds value

–

Relative time

–

Other programming languages

Copy-paste epoch conversion snippets in your favorite stack

View all code snippets →

More timestamp guides

Example values used above: epoch seconds = 1,754,136,000 · ISO 8601 = 2025-08-02T12:00:00.000Z. Curious how the numbers work? See the Unix epoch time FAQ, or view the current epoch time in any timezone.