How to Convert Dates to Timestamps in JavaScript

You can simply convert dates to timestamp in JavaScript by prepending them with a + sign:

// Quickly convert dates to timestamp with:

// Returns: 1583318177897
+new Date();

// Returns: Wed Mar 04 2020 11:36:20 GMT+0100
new Date();

This is essentially typecasting the Date into a number. It is equivalent of doing:

// This will return 0
new Date('1970-01-01').getTime();

Make sure you pass in a date in the above format. If you would like to know how to also format your dates, make sure to checkout this other webtip.

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Resources:

• The Date object in JavaScript
• Documentation for Date.prototype.getTime
• Type Conversion