Date.prototype.setTime()

The setTime() method of {{jsxref("Date")}} instances changes the timestamp for this date, which is the number of milliseconds since the epoch, defined as the midnight at the beginning of January 1, 1970, UTC.

{{InteractiveExample("JavaScript Demo: Date.prototype.setTime()", "taller")}}

```js interactive-example const launchDate = new Date("July 1, 1999, 12:00:00"); const futureDate = new Date(); futureDate.setTime(launchDate.getTime());

console.log(futureDate); // Expected output: "Thu Jul 01 1999 12:00:00 GMT+0200 (CEST)"

const fiveMinutesInMs = 5 * 60 * 1000; futureDate.setTime(futureDate.getTime() + fiveMinutesInMs);

console.log(futureDate); // Expected output: "Thu Jul 01 1999 12:05:00 GMT+0200 (CEST)" // Note: your timezone may vary

## Syntax

```js-nolint
setTime(timeValue)

Parameters#

• timeValue
• : An integer representing the new timestamp — the number of milliseconds since the midnight at the beginning of January 1, 1970, UTC.

Return value#

Changes the {{jsxref("Date")}} object in place, and returns its new timestamp. If timeValue is NaN (or other values that get coerced to NaN, such as undefined), the date is set to Invalid Date and NaN is returned.

Examples#

Using setTime()#

const theBigDay = new Date("1999-07-01");
const sameAsBigDay = new Date();
sameAsBigDay.setTime(theBigDay.getTime());

Specifications#

{{Specifications}}

Browser compatibility#

{{Compat}}

See also#

• {{jsxref("Date.prototype.getTime()")}}
• {{jsxref("Date.prototype.setUTCHours()")}}