- Get Current Time in Python (Different Formats & Timezones)
- Current Time in Python
- Current Time in Milliseconds
- Current Time in Seconds
- Get Current Local Date and Time
- Get Current Timezone
- Get Current Epoch/Unix Timestamp
- Current UTC Time
- Current ISO Time
- Current GMT Time
- Get Current Years, Months, Days, Hours, Minutes, and Seconds
- Further Reading
Get Current Time in Python (Different Formats & Timezones)
For example, here is a simple piece of code to get the current time:
from datetime import datetime now = datetime.now().strftime("%H:%M:%S") print(f"The time is ")
This displays the current time in HH:MM:SS format:
This is a comprehensive guide to getting the current time in Python.
You will learn how to get the current time in different formats and contexts in Python. For example, you’ll learn how to get the current time in milliseconds, in the Epoch format, and how to extract different time components from it.
Current Time in Python
Dealing with time is crucial in some Python programs. To make handling instances of time easier in your projects, Python has some useful libraries like time and datetime.
Read more about using the datetime module in Python.
Let’s take a complete look at how you can get the current time in Python using different timezones, formats, and such.
Current Time in Milliseconds
Milliseconds means one-thousandth (1/1000th) of a second.
To get the current time in milliseconds in Python:
import time t = time.time() t_ms = int(t * 1000) print(f"The current time in milliseconds: ")
The current time in milliseconds: 1635249073607
Current Time in Seconds
To get the current time in seconds in Python:
import time t = time.time() t_s = int(t) print(f"The current time in seconds: ")
The current time in seconds: 1635249118
Get Current Local Date and Time
To get the current local date and time in Python:
- Import the datetime class from the datetime module.
- Ask for the current time by datetime.now().
from datetime import datetime now = datetime.now() print(f"The timestamp is ")
The timestamp is 2021-10-26 14:53:37.807390
Get Current Timezone
To get the current local timezone in Python:
- Import the datetime class from the datetime module.
- Get the current time.
- Convert the current time to time that stores timezone information.
- Get your local timezone from the timezone information.
from datetime import datetime now = datetime.now() now_with_tz = now.astimezone() my_timezone = now_with_tz.tzinfo print(my_timezone)
I am in the EEST timezone (Eastern European Summer Time), so the above code gives me:
Get Current Epoch/Unix Timestamp
The epoch time/UNIX time refers to how many seconds have passed since Jan 1st, 1970.
To get the current epoch/UNIX timestamp in Python:
import time t_epoch = time.time() print(f"The epoch time is now: ")
The epoch time is now: 1635251715.9572039
Current UTC Time
To get the current time in UTC time format in Python:
from datetime import datetime, timezone now = datetime.now(timezone.utc) print(f"Current UTC Time: ")
Current UTC Time: 2021-10-26 12:01:54.888681+00:00
Current ISO Time
The ISO 8601 (International Organization for Standardization) is a standard way to express time.
ISO 8601 follows the format T[hh]:[mm]:[ss].
To get the current time in ISO format in Python:
- Import the datetime class from the datetime module.
- Convert current time to ISO format.
from datetime import datetime ISO_time = datetime.now().isoformat() print(f"Current DateTime in ISO: ")
Current DateTime in ISO: 2021-10-26T15:02:36.635934
Current GMT Time
The GMT or Greenwich Mean Time is the solar time observed in Greenwich, London.
To get the current GMT time in Python:
- Import gmttime, strftime from the time module.
- Get the GMT time with the gmttime() function.
- Format the time.
from time import gmtime, strftime now_GMT = strftime("%a, %d %b %Y %I:%M:%S %p %Z", gmtime()) print("GMT time is now: " + now_GMT)
GMT time is now: Tue, 26 Oct 2021 12:10:09 PM UTC
Get Current Years, Months, Days, Hours, Minutes, and Seconds
To extract years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds in Python:
- Import the datetime class from the datetime module.
- Get the current date object.
- Pull the time components from the current date object.
from datetime import datetime now = datetime.now() print(f"Year: ") print(f"Month: ") print(f"Day: ") print(f"Hour: ") print(f"Minute: ") print(f"Second: ")
Year: 2021 Month: 10 Day: 26 Hour: 15 Minute: 13 Second: 48
This completes the guide! I hope you find it useful and learned something new. Thanks for reading. Happy coding!