Choose a date format your reader understands
The same date can be written in several ways. For example, 03/04/2026 can mean March 4 in the United States or 3 April in many other places. Select a date above to see ISO, US, European, and long English formats side by side.
ISO 8601 uses year-month-day order and sorts naturally in filenames and data tables. A long written date is often clearer in announcements and letters. When a form or API expects a specific format, follow its instructions exactly rather than guessing from your local settings.
About the Unix timestamp
The timestamp shown represents midnight at the start of the selected date in UTC, measured in seconds from 1 January 1970. A local midnight may correspond to a different timestamp. For schedules, bookings, and deadlines, include the time and time zone as well as the calendar date.
A quick final check
After copying a date into another system, verify the month and day have not swapped. This matters most when both numbers are 12 or less and the format is ambiguous.