ULID / Snowflake ID Decoder
Extract the timestamp, shard and sequence from ULIDs and Snowflake IDs.
Output appears here as you type — decoded on your device.
Input is processed on your device. Nothing you paste is sent anywhere.
What is the ULID / Snowflake ID Decoder?
A Snowflake/ULID decoder extracts the embedded creation timestamp from a time-sortable identifier — a 64-bit Snowflake ID or a 26-character ULID — along with the worker and sequence bits that make it unique.
Snowflake IDs were designed at Twitter to generate sortable, unique 64-bit identifiers without central coordination. The layout is 41 bits of millisecond timestamp, 10 bits of machine or worker identifier and 12 bits of per-millisecond sequence. The timestamp is an offset from a custom epoch, which is why decoding requires knowing whose Snowflake it is: Twitter's epoch is 4 November 2010, Discord's is 1 January 2015.
ULIDs solve the same problem in a text-friendly way: 26 Crockford base32 characters, of which the first 10 encode a 48-bit millisecond timestamp and the remaining 16 are randomness. They sort lexicographically in creation order, are URL-safe, and are case-insensitive by design.
Both are worth decoding for the same reason: any record keyed this way carries its own creation time, so you can date a message, an order or a log entry from its identifier alone.
ULID / Snowflake ID Decoder at a glance
- Snowflake
- 64 bits: 41 timestamp · 10 worker · 12 sequence
- Epochs
- Twitter 2010-11-04 · Discord 2015-01-01
- ULID
- 26 chars Crockford base32: 48-bit time + 80-bit random
- Both
- Lexicographically sortable by creation time
How to use the ULID / Snowflake ID Decoder
- 1Paste the Snowflake ID or ULID.
- 2For a Snowflake, select the matching epoch — Twitter, Discord or custom.
- 3Read the recovered creation timestamp, worker ID and sequence.
When you would reach for it
- Dating a Discord message or user account from its ID.
- Correlating log entries by extracting timestamps from record IDs.
- Verifying that your own ID generator encodes the epoch you configured.
ULID / Snowflake ID Decoder — frequently asked questions
Last reviewed · questions or corrections: contact@decoder.tools