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TIME DOCUMENTATION

Python timestamps

Convert Unix seconds to a UTC date and back to a timestamp without time zone ambiguity.

Convert a timestamp to a date

Use datetime.fromtimestamp() with an explicit time zone. Without the tz argument, Python creates a local date without time zone information.

from datetime import datetime, timezone

ts = 1711972800
date = datetime.fromtimestamp(ts, tz=timezone.utc)
print(date.isoformat())
# 2024-04-01T12:00:00+00:00

Get Unix seconds from a date

date = datetime(2024, 4, 1, 12, 0, 0, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
print(date.timestamp())  # 1711972800.0

Convert milliseconds without floating-point arithmetic

Dividing by 1,000 is sufficient for many uses. To preserve an exact microsecond fraction, separate whole seconds from the remainder.

from datetime import timedelta

ms = 1711972800123
seconds, remainder = divmod(ms, 1000)
date = datetime.fromtimestamp(seconds, timezone.utc)
date += timedelta(milliseconds=remainder)
print(date.isoformat())
# 2024-04-01T12:00:00.123000+00:00

Display the time in Paris

from zoneinfo import ZoneInfo

print(date.astimezone(ZoneInfo('Europe/Paris')).isoformat())
# 2024-04-01T14:00:00.123000+02:00

zoneinfo is available from Python 3.9. Time zone data must be installed on the system or supplied by the tzdata.

To measure execution time, use time.perf_counter(). The wall clock may be adjusted while your program runs.

References

Python — datetime · zoneinfo · perf_counter

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English version published September 26, 2026.