Avro & Parquet Timestamp Converter

Q: What is Avro date logical type?

An int of **days since 1970-01-01** (epoch). 20,685 = 2026-08-13. Requires the `logicalType: "date"` annotation on an int.

Q: What is Parquet INT96?

A legacy 12-byte value: **8 bytes nanoseconds within a Julian day + 4 bytes Julian day number**. Written by old Hive/Impala writers; Spark still reads it.

Q: What is the difference between time-millis and timestamp-micros?

`time-millis` is **ms since midnight** (time-of-day only); `timestamp-micros` is µs **since the Unix epoch** (full instant). Different units and epochs.

Columnar formats encode time via logical types: Avro `date` (days since epoch), `time-millis`/`time-micros` (since midnight), `timestamp-micros` (since epoch); Parquet adds the legacy INT96 (Julian day + nanos). Reading raw values requires knowing which logical type applies.

This converter renders your date-time in each Avro/Parquet representation so you can decode column files, write test data, and debug Spark/PyArrow reads.

Timezone:

Enter a date-time above to see the conversion results.

Avro & Parquet Timestamp Converter Quick Reference

Format	Pattern / Description	Example 1	Example 2
Avro timestamp-micros	Microseconds (Long)	1786631400000	1767225600000
Avro Date (Int)	Days since Epoch	20678	20454
Avro Time Millis	Millis of Day	52200000	0
Avro Time Micros	Micros of Day	52200000000	0
Parquet INT96	Julian Day + Nanos	JD: 2461266, Nanos: 52200000000000	JD: 2461041, Nanos: 0

* Examples are rendered in UTC for the fixed sample instants above.

When to Use Avro & Parquet Timestamp

Parquet debugging

INT96 timestamps surface as raw 12-byte values in low-level readers. Convert them to verify Spark's inferred time.

Avro schema design

Pick the right logical type (date vs timestamp-micros) and preview the encoded integer values for test records.

ETL pipeline testing

Generate known timestamp values for Avro/Parquet fixtures used in ingestion tests.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Avro date logical type?

An int of days since 1970-01-01 (epoch). 20,685 = 2026-08-13. Requires the `logicalType: "date"` annotation on an int.

What is Parquet INT96?

A legacy 12-byte value: 8 bytes nanoseconds within a Julian day + 4 bytes Julian day number. Written by old Hive/Impala writers; Spark still reads it.

What is the difference between time-millis and timestamp-micros?

`time-millis` is ms since midnight (time-of-day only); `timestamp-micros` is µs since the Unix epoch (full instant). Different units and epochs.

How do I convert Parquet INT96 to a date?

Take the Julian day (4 bytes) → convert to Gregorian, then add the nanos fraction. This converter produces both parts from a date for verification.

Related Time Format Converters

BigQuery, Snowflake & ClickHouse Timestamp Converter

Convert dates to cloud database timestamp formats: BigQuery, Snowflake, ClickHouse, kdb+, InfluxDB and Presto/Hive. Free converter for data engineering.

Unix Timestamp Converter (Epoch Time)

Free Unix timestamp converter. Convert epoch seconds, milliseconds, microseconds and nanoseconds to human-readable dates instantly. UTC & local time, one click copy.

Julian Date Converter (JD & MJD)

Convert calendar dates to Julian Date (JD) and Modified Julian Date (MJD). Continuous day count for astronomy, aerospace and date arithmetic. Free converter.

All Format Guides

Unix Timestamp ISO 8601 ISO Week Date ISO Ordinal Date Military Time Decimal Time RFC 2822 RFC 3339 SQL Datetime Julian Date HTTP Date Excel Serial Date GPS Time UTC Time Cron Expression

Browse all 50 format guides →

Need to Convert Between All Formats?

Use the main Time Format Converter for instant conversion across 100+ formats — epoch, ISO 8601, RFC 3339, SQL datetime, military time and more in one click.

Open Time Format Converter