How do you get a timestamp in JavaScript?

Question

How can I get a timestamp in JavaScript?

Something similar to Unix timestamp, that is, a single number that represents the current time and date. Either as a number

Answer 1

var timestamp = Number(new Date()); // current time as number

Answer 2

For lodash and underscore users, use _.now.

var timestamp = _.now(); // in milliseconds

Answer 3

For a timestamp with microsecond resolution, there's performance.now:

function time() { 
  return performance.now() + performance.timing.navigationStart;
}

This could for example yield 1436140826653.139, while Date.now only gives 1436140826653.

Answer 4

Moment.js can abstract away a lot of the pain in dealing with Javascript Dates.

See: http://momentjs.com/docs/#/displaying/unix-timestamp/

moment().unix();

Answer 5

If it is for logging purposes, you can use ISOString

new Date().toISOString()

"2019-05-18T20:02:36.694Z"

Answer 6

The Date.getTime() method can be used with a little tweak:

The value returned by the getTime method is the number of milliseconds since 1 January 1970 00:00:00 UTC.

Divide the result by 1000 to get the Unix timestamp, floor if necessary:

(new Date).getTime() / 1000

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^{The Date.valueOf() method is functionally equivalent to Date.getTime(), which makes it possible to use arithmetic operators on date object to achieve identical results. In my opinion, this approach affects readability.}