How do I convert a Unix epoch timestamp into a human readable date/time in Excel?

Question

I have Excel documents containing Unix epoch timestamps from a Java application. I\'d like to see what they translate to and represent them as human readable dates inside of Exc

Answer 1

I have found that the easiest formulas to remember and read are these:

Convert from Unix/Epoch timestamp to date in Excel (assuming timestamp is in A2):

=(A2/86400)+DATE(1970,1,1)

This will generate the GMT Excel time value. You then need to set the format for the cell to one of the date formats, or create your own custom format. I tend to use either:

dd-mmm-yy                --> gives 05-Oct-18
dd-mmm-yyyy hh:mm:ss     --> gives 05-Oct-2018 09:45:12

Convert from date to Epoch timestamp (assuming date is in A2):

=(A2-DATE(1970,1,1))*86400

I have found that this page is pretty helpful: Extendoffice excel-timestamp-to-date

Note: If you need to adjust to local time from GMT (New York as an example), add the difference at the end. The following show a -5 hour offset.

=(A2/86400)+DATE(1970,1,1)+(-5/24)