# How to get unformatted time

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-get-unformatted-time/100441>\
**Category:** General\
**Tags:** function-node, time\
**Created:** [24 February 2026 02:40 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-get-unformatted-time/100441 "2026-02-24T02:40:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![scf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba8739/32.png) [@scf](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/scf)\
**Post date:** [24 February 2026 02:40 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-get-unformatted-time/100441/1 "2026-02-24T02:40:06Z")

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How do I get unformatted time (milliseconds since the Epoch) from Date() or some other function call?

I need to do this in a function, injecting a timestamp won't work for this.

Thanks!

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**Author:** ![Bobo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/bobo/32/8401_2.png) [@Bobo](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Bobo)\
**Post date:** [24 February 2026 03:35 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-get-unformatted-time/100441/2 "2026-02-24T03:35:53Z")

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> **[Date.now() - JavaScript | MDN](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date/now)**
>
> The Date.now() static method returns the number of milliseconds elapsed since the epoch, which is defined as the midnight at the beginning of January 1, 1970, UTC.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![scf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba8739/32.png) [@scf](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/scf)\
**Post date:** [24 February 2026 04:01 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-get-unformatted-time/100441/3 "2026-02-24T04:01:47Z")

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Thanks! Works great!

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**Author:** ![ThingsTinkerer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/91b2a8/32.png) [@ThingsTinkerer](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/ThingsTinkerer)\
**Post date:** [24 February 2026 11:06 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-get-unformatted-time/100441/4 "2026-02-24T11:06:31Z")

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This is pure js topic, for future reference: [Date - JavaScript | MDN](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date)

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/1X/d073cd938eafa2e558d7c2cd59003b3ef4963033.png) [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [10 March 2026 11:06 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-get-unformatted-time/100441/5 "2026-03-10T11:06:50Z")

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