Convert date to timestamp in PHP

This article demonstrates how to convert a date to a Unix timestamp in PHP. The Unix timestamp starts at the Unix epoch on January 1st, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC, and contains the total number of seconds elapsed until the specified time.

1. Using `strtotime()` function

A straightforward method is to use the strtotime() function to convert the given date to a Unix timestamp. The function expects the given string to be a valid date and time format. For example, the following script shows the usage of strtotime() for parsing the English date format YYYY-MM-DD into the number of seconds since the Unix epoch.

<?php

$date = '2017/10/31 16:25:00';

$timestamp = strtotime($date);

echo $timestamp; // 1509463500

Download Run Code

It is worth noting that a Unix timestamp does not contain the timezone information. If you need the current time measured in the number of seconds since the Unix Epoch, consider using the time() function.

<?php

$timestamp = time();

echo $timestamp;

Download Run Code

2. Using `DateTime::format()` function

The DateTime class stores date and time information, and supplies methods for manipulating date and time. One such method is DateTime::format(), which returns a date formatted according to the given format. The U format parameter is useful to get the number of seconds since the Unix epoch.

<?php

$date = '2017/10/31 16:25:00';

$dateTime = new DateTime($date);

$timestamp = $dateTime->format('U');

echo $timestamp; // 1509463500

Download Run Code

The DateTime::format() is an object-oriented style function. Equivalently, you may use the procedural function date_format() to get the formatted date according to the given format.

<?php

$date = '2017/10/31 16:25:00';

$dateTime = date_create($date);

$timestamp = date_format($dateTime, 'U');

echo $timestamp; // 1509463500

Download Run Code

3. Using `DateTime::getTimestamp()` function

The DateTime class also has an in-built method, DateTime::getTimestamp() to get the Unix timestamp representing the date that corresponds to the DateTime object. The following script provides an illustration:

<?php

$date = '2017/10/31 16:25:00';

$dateTime = new DateTime($date);

$timestamp = $dateTime->getTimestamp();

echo $timestamp; // 1509463500

Download Run Code

You may also use the date_timestamp_get() function, which is an alias of DateTime::getTimestamp().

<?php

$date = '2017/10/31 16:25:00';

$dateTime = date_create($date);

$timestamp = date_timestamp_get($dateTime);

echo $timestamp; // 1509463500

Download Run Code

4. Using `mktime()` function

The mktime() returns the Unix timestamp corresponding to the given arguments. The function takes the arguments in order: hour, minute, second, month, day, and year, and returns the number of seconds between the Unix epoch and the specified time.

<?php

$date = "2017/10/31";

list($year, $month, $day) = explode("/", $date);

echo mktime(0, 0, 0, $month, $day, $year); // 1509404400

Download Run Code

That’s all there is to converting a date to a timestamp in PHP.

Convert date to timestamp in PHP

1. Using strtotime() function

2. Using DateTime::format() function

3. Using DateTime::getTimestamp() function

4. Using mktime() function

Share this:

1. Using `strtotime()` function

2. Using `DateTime::format()` function

3. Using `DateTime::getTimestamp()` function

4. Using `mktime()` function