Get Current Time in Python (Different Formats & Timezones)

To get the current time in Python:

1. Import datetime from datetime module.
2. Call datetime.now to get the current date.
3. Format the date to only show hours, minutes, and seconds.

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 {now}")

This displays the current time in HH:MM:SS format:

The time is 14:42:24

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:

1. Import time module.
2. Get the current epoch time.
3. Multiply the current epoch time by 1000.

For instance:

import time

t = time.time()
t_ms = int(t * 1000)
print(f"The current time in milliseconds: {t_ms}")

Output:

The current time in milliseconds: 1635249073607

Current Time in Seconds

To get the current time in seconds in Python:

1. Import time module.
2. Get the current epoch time.
3. Convert the epoch time to an integer.

For example:

import time

t = time.time()
t_s = int(t)
print(f"The current time in seconds: {t_s}")

Output:

The current time in seconds: 1635249118

Get Current Local Date and Time

To get the current local date and time in Python:

1. Import the datetime class from the datetime module.
2. Ask for the current time by datetime.now().

For instance:

from datetime import datetime

now = datetime.now()
print(f"The timestamp is {now}")

Output:

The timestamp is 2021-10-26 14:53:37.807390

Get Current Timezone

To get the current local timezone in Python:

1. Import the datetime class from the datetime module.
2. Get the current time.
3. Convert the current time to time that stores timezone information.
4. Get your local timezone from the timezone information.

For instance:

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:

EEST

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:

1. Import the time module.
2. Call the time.time() function.

For example:

import time

t_epoch = time.time()
print(f"The epoch time is now: {t_epoch}")

Output:

The epoch time is now: 1635251715.9572039

Current UTC Time

To get the current time in UTC time format in Python:

1. Import datetime and timezone from the datetime module.
2. Get the current time in the UTC timezone.

For instance:

from datetime import datetime, timezone

now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
print(f"Current UTC Time: {now}")

Output:

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:

1. Import the datetime class from the datetime module.
2. Convert current time to ISO format.

For example:

from datetime import datetime

ISO_time = datetime.now().isoformat()
print(f"Current DateTime in ISO: {ISO_time}")

Output:

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:

1. Import gmttime, strftime from the time module.
2. Get the GMT time with the gmttime() function.
3. Format the time.

For instance:

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)

Output:

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:

1. Import the datetime class from the datetime module.
2. Get the current date object.
3. Pull the time components from the current date object.

For instance:

from datetime import datetime

now = datetime.now()

print(f"Year: {now.year}")
print(f"Month: {now.month}")
print(f"Day: {now.day}")

print(f"Hour: {now.hour}")
print(f"Minute: {now.minute}")
print(f"Second: {now.second}")

Output:

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!

Further Reading

• Python Tricks
• How to Write to a File in Python
• The with Statement in Python