Python | time.localtime() method

Last Updated : 14 Apr, 2025

Time module in Python provides handy tools to work with time-related tasks. One of its most useful functions is time.localtime(), which converts time expressed in seconds since the epoch (January 1, 1970) into a local time representation. It returns a time.struct_time object, which is a tuple-like structure containing detailed components like year, month, day, hour, etc. If no time is passed, time.localtime() returns the current local time.

Here's what the returned object contains:

Index	Attribute	Description
0	tm_year	Year (e.g., 2025)
1	tm_mon	Month (1–12)
2	tm_mday	Day of the month (1–31)
3	tm_hour	Hour (0–23)
4	tm_min	Minute (0–59)
5	tm_sec	Second (0–61, includes leap sec)
6	tm_wday	Weekday (0–6, Monday is 0)
7	tm_yday	Day of the year (1–366)
8	tm_isdst	Daylight Saving (0, 1, or -1)

Syntax

time.localtime([secs])

Parameter:

secs (optional): Number of seconds since the epoch. If omitted or None, the current time is used.

Return type: object of class 'time.struct_time'.

Examples of time.localtime() Mehod

Example 1: Get current local time

Python

import time

obj = time.localtime()

print(obj)

print(time.asctime(obj))

Output

time.struct_time(tm_year=2025, tm_mon=4, tm_mday=12, tm_hour=11, tm_min=38, tm_sec=10, tm_wday=5, tm_yday=102, tm_isdst=0)
Sat Apr 12 11:38:10 2025

Explanation:

time.localtime() gives you the current time broken down into its parts.
time.asctime() converts the struct_time into a readable string like "Thu Apr 10 16:35:12 2025".

Example 2: Convert specific time (in seconds) to local time

Python

import time

secs = 950000000

obj = time.localtime(secs)

print("Local time for seconds =", secs)
print(obj)

Output

Local time for seconds = 950000000
time.struct_time(tm_year=2000, tm_mon=2, tm_mday=8, tm_hour=8, tm_min=53, tm_sec=20, tm_wday=1, tm_yday=39, tm_isdst=0)

Explanation:

Here, 950000000 represents a specific point in time.
time.localtime(secs) converts it to a full struct_time format based on your local timezone.

Example 3: What happens with fractional seconds?

Python

import time

# Time with fractional seconds
secs = 950000000.81956

obj = time.localtime(secs)

print("Local time for seconds =", secs)
print(obj)

Output

Local time for seconds = 950000000.81956
time.struct_time(tm_year=2000, tm_mon=2, tm_mday=8, tm_hour=8, tm_min=53, tm_sec=20, tm_wday=1, tm_yday=39, tm_isdst=0)

Explanation:

Although we passed a float (950000000.81956), the fractional part is ignored.
We'll get the same result as if you passed 950000000 as an integer.