How to Convert DateTime to UNIX Timestamp in Python ?

Generating a UNIX timestamp from a DateTime object in Python involves converting a date and time representation into the number of seconds elapsed since January 1, 1970 (known as the Unix epoch). For example, given a DateTime representing May 29, 2025, 15:30, the UNIX timestamp is the floating-point number representing seconds passed since the epoch. Let’s explore different method to do this efficientely .

Using datetime.timestamp()

datetime.timestamp() is a method available on datetime objects in Python. It converts a datetime instance into a POSIX timestamp, which is the number of seconds (including fractions) elapsed since the Unix epoch January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC.

import datetime
dt = datetime.datetime(2021, 7, 26, 21, 20)

res = dt.timestamp()
print(res)

1627334400.0

Explanation:

• datetime.datetime(2021, 7, 26, 21, 20) creates a datetime for July 26, 2021, 9:20 PM.
• dt.timestamp() converts it to the number of seconds as a float since the Unix epoch (Jan 1, 1970, 00:00 UTC).

Using time.mktime()

time.mktime() is a function from the time module that takes a time tuple (such as one returned by datetime.timetuple()) and converts it into a Unix timestamp. However, this timestamp is based on the local timezone, not UTC.

import time
import datetime

dt = datetime.datetime(2021, 7, 26, 21, 20)
res = time.mktime(dt.timetuple())
print(res)

1627334400.0

Explanation:

• datetime.datetime(2021, 7, 26, 21, 20) creates a datetime for July 26, 2021, 9:20 PM (local time).
• dt.timetuple() converts it to a time tuple.
• time.mktime() converts this local time tuple to a Unix timestamp (seconds since epoch).

Using timestamp()

You can get the current date and time using datetime.datetime.now(), then convert it to a Unix timestamp in seconds using .timestamp(). Multiplying by 1000 converts seconds into milliseconds, which is useful for higher precision timing or APIs that expect timestamps in milliseconds.

import datetime

now = datetime.datetime.now()
res = int(now.timestamp() * 1000)

print(res)

1748514862867

Explanation:

• datetime.datetime.now() gets the current local date and time.
• .timestamp() converts it to seconds since the Unix epoch (UTC).
• Multiplying by 1000 converts seconds to milliseconds.
• int() converts the result to an integer (whole milliseconds).

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