Timeline Explorer
A forensic timeline analysis tool for visualizing and correlating artifacts from multiple evidence sources into a unified activity view.
Timeline Explorer is a digital forensics analysis tool developed by Eric Zimmerman that enables investigators to visualize, filter, and analyze large forensic timelines with precision. It is designed to ingest output from multiple forensic tools and present events in a single, coherent timeline for efficient investigation.
Timeline Explorer is a core component of many DFIR workflows, supporting incident response, malware investigations, insider threat cases, and legal examinations.
First time seeing this?
What Timeline Explorer Does
Timeline Explorer aggregates and displays timestamped forensic artifacts from diverse sources such as the file system, registry, event logs, Jump Lists, Amcache, ShellBags, browser artifacts, and memory analysis outputs. It allows analysts to sort, filter, pivot, and correlate events across multiple data sets to reconstruct system and user activity over time.
By consolidating disparate artifacts into one interface, Timeline Explorer enables investigators to quickly identify sequences of actions, anomalous behavior, and attacker dwell time.
Key Features of Timeline Explorer
Multi-Source Timeline Ingestion
Imports timelines from numerous forensic tools and artifact parsers.High-Performance Data Handling
Designed to efficiently process and display very large timeline files.Advanced Filtering and Searching
Filter events by timestamp, artifact type, user, path, or keyword.Sortable and Pivotable Views
Quickly pivot across columns to identify patterns and correlations.Time Zone Normalization
Normalize timestamps to ensure accurate cross-artifact comparison.Artifact Context Visibility
Displays detailed metadata associated with each timeline event.Bookmarking and Notes
Mark key events and add investigator annotations.CSV Export Support
Export filtered timelines for reporting and case documentation.Seamless Toolchain Integration
Works directly with outputs from Zimmerman forensic tools and KAPE.
Advanced Use Cases
Incident Response
Reconstruct attacker actions across endpoints to determine scope and impact.
Malware and Ransomware Analysis
Correlate execution, persistence, encryption activity, and cleanup behavior.
Insider Threat Investigations
Identify suspicious access patterns and unauthorized activity over time.
Timeline Validation and Gap Analysis
Detect missing artifacts or inconsistencies across evidence sources.
Legal and Compliance Investigations
Produce clear, defensible timelines suitable for expert testimony.
Latest Updates (as of 2026)
Recent enhancements and ongoing maintenance include:
Continued performance improvements for large timelines
Expanded compatibility with modern Windows artifacts
Improved usability for complex investigations
Regular maintenance aligned with DFIR research developments
Ongoing integration improvements with KAPE workflows
Timeline Explorer remains actively maintained and widely adopted in professional forensic environments.
Why It Matters
Modern investigations involve thousands or millions of timestamped events across multiple systems. Timeline Explorer provides clarity by transforming raw forensic output into an intelligible sequence of actions.
For investigators, it is essential for understanding what happened, when it happened, and how different artifacts relate to one another.
Requirements and Platform Support
Timeline Explorer runs on:
Windows
It requires:
Timeline data in supported formats such as CSV
Output from forensic artifact collection and parsing tools
Official site and documentation:
https://ericzimmerman.github.io/
https://github.com/EricZimmerman/TimelineExplorer