How to get the current date and time

Short answer

new Date() without arguments creates an object with the current date and time. toLocaleString() shows it in a readable form:

const now = new Date();
 
console.log(now.toLocaleString('en-GB'));

Output:

03/10/2026, 10:13:15

Separate parts

The getters return the year, month, day and time. Months are counted from zero:

const now = new Date();
 
console.log(now.getFullYear(), now.getMonth() + 1, now.getDate());
console.log(now.getHours(), now.getMinutes());

Output:

2026 10 3
10 13

A timestamp

Date.now() returns the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970. It is convenient for measuring time and for unique values:

const start = Date.now();
 
console.log(typeof start, start > 0);

Output:

number true

For an API

toISOString() gives a standard string in UTC, which servers understand:

const now = new Date();
 
console.log(now.toISOString().length);

Output:

24

Common mistake

getDay() returns the day of the week, not the day of the month. The day of the month is getDate():

const date = new Date(2025, 2, 15);
 
console.log(date.getDay(), date.getDate());

Output:

6 15