Timestamps

The Timestamps tab of Settings controls how LogRaker displays the date and time at the start of each log line.

Normalize timestamps

Normalize timestamps rewrites the timestamp a line already begins with into one consistent format, so streams from different sources line up. Common formats are recognized automatically - TAI64N, ISO 8601 (with or without a time zone), syslog, Apache/nginx, and others. Lines with no recognized timestamp are left untouched.

When this is off, timestamps show exactly as the source wrote them, and the options below are disabled.

Preset

Preset is a popup of ready-made formats:

ISO 8601 - 2026-12-30 14:32:10
ISO 8601 + ms - 2026-12-30 14:32:10.123
US - 12/30/2026 2:32:10 PM
Compact - 12-30 14:32:10

Choosing one fills in the Format below. The last item, Custom…, lets you write your own.

Format

Format is the pattern timestamps are rendered into. Pick a Preset to fill it, or edit it directly to build your own - the popup then switches to Custom…. The Insert pull-down offers the common fields (year, month, day, hour, minute, second, time zone, and more) so you needn't memorize the pattern letters. The Preview row beneath it shows how the current format looks on a live timestamp.

Sub-second precision

Fractional seconds appear only when your format includes a fractional field - the ISO 8601 + ms preset, or .SSS in a custom pattern. When it does, LogRaker shows each line's own fractional digits at whatever precision the source recorded them - milliseconds, microseconds, and so on - and never pads whole-second lines with fake zeros. A format with no fractional field shows whole seconds only.

Display options

Show Today / Yesterday - shows today's timestamps as Today <time> and yesterday's as Yesterday <time>. Older dates use the full format. Its own Preview row shows the result.
Highlight timestamp column - tints the timestamp at the start of each line so it stands apart from the message text.
Hide duplicate timestamps - some services write their own timestamp into every message, so lines relayed through journald or syslog show the time twice: once from the log system, then again inside the message (for example 2026-07-04 00:55:50 host myapp[2151]: 2026/07/04 00:55:50 Started). When this is on, LogRaker hides the service’s embedded timestamp and keeps the log system’s - the one used for ordering and filtering. It only applies to lines with the host process[pid]: header form, only when the embedded text is a recognized timestamp, and only when the two timestamps agree to within a few seconds - so a forwarder or replay line that carries an older original-event time keeps both times visible. Nothing else in the message is touched.

Reset to Defaults restores every Timestamps setting to its factory value.

Changes apply instantly to all open streams, so you see the effect as you adjust them.