How to convert Datetime to Unix timestamp in Powershell

🎈 🎈 🎈


    # Convert Date to Unix timestamp
    $date = Get-Date "2015-11-23 07:12:04"
    $unixEpoch = Get-Date "1970-01-01 00:00:00"  # Unix epoch start
    $unixTimestamp = [int]($date - $unixEpoch).TotalSeconds
    
    Write-Output "Unix Timestamp: $unixTimestamp"

Output:

Unix Timestamp: 1448262724

Example only. There may be multiple ways to perform this operation.

Code Explanation

In this example of date to Unix timestamp conversion in Powershell, a date (2015-11-23 07:12:04) is subtracted from the Unix epoch (1970-01-01 00:00:00).
The difference is calculated in seconds using the TotalSeconds property. The result is cast to an integer, and the result, which is the Unix timestamp, is printed. For '2015-11-23 07:12:04', the result is 1448262724.

Convert Unix timestamp to Date in Powershell

Other useful Powershell date functions

Function	Description	Example
`Get-Date`	Returns the current date and time or a specified date.	`Get-Date "2018-07-15 12:30:45"` returns 2018-07-15 12:30:45
`AddSeconds()`	Adds a number of seconds to a `DateTime` object.	`(Get-Date).AddSeconds(86400)` adds 1 day to the current date.
`AddDays()`	Adds a number of days to a `DateTime` object.	`(Get-Date).AddDays(7)` adds 7 days to the current date.
`AddHours()`	Adds a number of hours to a `DateTime` object.	`(Get-Date).AddHours(3)` adds 3 hours to the current time.
`TotalSeconds`	Returns the total seconds between two dates.	`($date - $unixEpoch).TotalSeconds` returns the seconds between two dates.
`Set-Date`	Changes the system date and time to a specified date and time.	`Set-Date "2024-08-28 12:00:00"` sets the system date to 2024-08-28 12:00:00.
`ToString()`	Formats a `DateTime` object into a string using a specified format.	`(Get-Date).ToString("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss")` returns 2024-08-28 12:34:56
`New-TimeSpan`	Calculates the difference between two dates.	`New-TimeSpan -Start (Get-Date "2018-01-01") -End (Get-Date "2020-01-01")` returns the difference between the two dates.
`Get-ItemProperty`	Retrieves system or file date properties (e.g., created or modified dates).	`Get-ItemProperty "C:\file.txt" \| Select-Object LastWriteTime`

Current Unix Timestamp SECONDS SINCE JAN 01 1970

Current UTC Time

2025-08-20