How to Get the Timestamp in JavaScript?

A timestamp is a numeric representation of the current time. It is a unique identifier that marks the exact moment when an event occurred or when a certain action was performed.

1. Using Date.now() Method

This approach uses Date.now() method. This method returns the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC. It is a static method of the Date object and is widely supported by modern browsers.

Syntax

let timestamp = Date.now();

Example: Timestamp will hold the current timestamp in milliseconds, and it will be logged to the console. If you want the timestamp in seconds, you can divide the result by 1000:

const timestamp = Date.now();
console.log(timestamp);

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2. Using new Date().getTime() Method

This approaches uses new Date().getTime() method. This method also returns the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC. It is an instance method of the Date object and is equivalent to calling the valueOf() method.

Syntax

let timestamp = new Date().getTime();

Example: The new Date().getTime() method is used to create a new Date object and retrieve its timestamp in milliseconds. The timestamp variable will hold the current timestamp, and it will be logged to the console.

const timestamp = new Date().getTime();
console.log(timestamp);

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3. Using new Date().valueOf() Method

This approach uses new Date().valueOf() method. This method returns the primitive value of a Date object, which is the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC.

Syntax

let timestamp = new Date().valueOf();

Example: The new Date().valueOf() creates a new Date object and retrieves its timestamp in milliseconds. The timestamp variable holds this value, which is then logged to the console.

const timestamp = new Date().valueOf();
console.log(timestamp);

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4. Using +new Date() Method

This approach leverages the unary plus operator (+) to implicitly convert the Date object into a number, effectively yielding the timestamp.

Example: This example shows the use of +new Date() method to get the timestamp.

let timestamp = +new Date();
console.log(timestamp);

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