Date.now Function (JavaScript)

The number of milliseconds between midnight, January 1, 1970, and the current date and time.

The getTime method returns the number of milliseconds between January 1, 1970, and a specified date.

For information about how to calculate elapsed time and compare dates, see Date and Time Calculations (JavaScript).

The following example illustrates the use of the now method.

var startMSec = Date.now();
var response = prompt("What is your name?", "");
var endMSec = Date.now();
    
var elapsed = (endMSec - startMSec) / 1000;
document.write("You took " + elapsed + " seconds" + " to type: " + response);

Supported in the Internet Explorer 9 standards document mode. See Version Information.

Not supported in the following document modes: Quirks, Internet Explorer 6 standards, Internet Explorer 7 standards, Internet Explorer 8 standards.

Reference

Concepts