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A common requirement in programs is getting the number of seconds, milliseconds, or nanoseconds since the Unix epoch. Here’s how to do it in Go.

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Getting Epoch Time

Use time.Now with Unix, UnixMilli, or UnixNano to get elapsed time since the Unix epoch: 
now := time.Now()
fmt.Println(now)
// Output: 2026-03-03 10:15:30.123456789 +0000 UTC

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Seconds Since Epoch

fmt.Println(now.Unix())
// Output: 1741001730

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Milliseconds Since Epoch

fmt.Println(now.UnixMilli())
// Output: 1741001730123

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Nanoseconds Since Epoch

fmt.Println(now.UnixNano())
// Output: 1741001730123456789

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Converting Epoch to Time

Convert integer seconds or nanoseconds since the epoch into the corresponding time:

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From Seconds

fmt.Println(time.Unix(now.Unix(), 0))
// Output: 2026-03-03 10:15:30 +0000 UTC

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From Nanoseconds

fmt.Println(time.Unix(0, now.UnixNano()))
// Output: 2026-03-03 10:15:30.123456789 +0000 UTC

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Epoch Time Methods

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Unix
func() int64
Returns the number of seconds since January 1, 1970 UTC
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UnixMilli
func() int64
Returns the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970 UTC
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UnixNano
func() int64
Returns the number of nanoseconds since January 1, 1970 UTC
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time.Unix
func(sec int64, nsec int64) Time
Creates a Time from seconds and nanoseconds since the epoch

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Use Cases

Timestamps

Store and compare event times

APIs

Exchange timestamps with external systems

Logging

Record when events occurred

Caching

Calculate expiration times

Time Formatting

Learn how to format and parse time values

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