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I have a epoch time in cell H2 which has a value of 1517335200000. I am trying to convert it to a human readable format which should return 30/01/2018 6:00:00 PM in GMT.

I have tried to convert it with the formula H2/86400+25569 which I got from the OpenOffice forum. The formula returns the value 17587319. When I change the number format in LibreOffice Calc to Date, it returns the value of 06/09/-15484. That's not the value I want. So, how can I get the value in dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm:ss format form?

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If H2 contains the number to transform (1517335200000).

  1. Make H3 contain the formula:

    = H2/1000/(60*60*24) + 25569

    Which will return the number 43130.75.

  2. Change format of cell H3 to date. Either:

    • Press Shift - Ctrl - 3
    • Select Format --> Number Format --> Date
    • Select Format --> Cells (a window opens) --> Numbers - Date - Format

  3. Change format of the H3 cell to the required date format:

    • Select Format --> Cells (a panel opens) --> Numbers - Date - Format (select one)

  4. Expand width of cell if not wide enough to show the desired format (hint: three # appear).

Why:

Epoch time is in seconds since 1/1/1970.
Calc internal time is in days since 12/30/1899.
So, to get a correct result in H3:

  1. Get the correct number (last formula):

    H3 = H2/(60*60*24) + ( Difference to 1/1/1970 since 12/30/1899 in days )
H3 = H2/86400      + ( DATE (1970,1,1) - DATE(1899,12,30) )
H3 = H2/86400      +   25569

    But the epoch value you are giving is too big, it is three zeros bigger than it should. Should be 1517335200 instead of 1517335200000. It seems to be giben in milliseconds. So, divide by 1000. With that change, the formula gives:

    H3 = H2/1000/86400+25569  =  43130.75

  2. Change the format of H3 to date and time (Format --> Cells --> Numbers --> Date --> Date and time) and you will see:

    01/30/2018 18:00:00

    in H3.

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  • 1
    I believe the the 3 zeros at the end are microsecond. – Fazle Rabbi Feb 2 '18 at 6:46
  • @FazleRabbi Then it is not an epoch time. Epoch time is in seconds. If you are sure that microseconds will be included in all the values you will use make the divisor 86400*1000 and the rest works the same. – Isaac Feb 2 '18 at 6:53
  • any way to add the value of 12/30/1899 without putting it on a cell? that will help me to make a one line formula so I may use it just by changing the value of H[0-9]. I got this far =(H2/(86400*1000))+25569 – Fazle Rabbi Feb 2 '18 at 7:01
  • Format H3 as a date and time, that's the minimum needed. @FazleRabbi – Isaac Feb 2 '18 at 7:02
  • Damn this is awkward. Is there no simple way to assign a (Perl/Awk/Clojure/whatever) function to a cell? The Spreadsheet: A Bad Idea Implemented Badly since VisiCalc. – David Tonhofer Feb 26 at 10:49
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In LibreOffice:

  • cell A1 = 1564336800 // unix timestamp
  • cell A2 = A1/86400+25569
  • cell A2 -> Main menu: Format -> Date -> yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss
  • cell A2: 2019-07-28 18:00:00

Because it has difference from LibreaOffise 1899-12-01 and UTC 1970-01-01 start day. I found the formula here: https://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=606#p290884

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