JavaScript String Methods

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String methods help you to work with strings.

String Methods and Properties

Primitive values, like "John Doe", cannot have properties or methods (because
they are not objects).

But with JavaScript, methods and properties are also available to primitive
values, because JavaScript treats primitive values as objects when executing
methods and properties.

JavaScript String Length

The length property returns the length of a string:

Example
let txt = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ";
let length = [Link];
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Extracting String Parts

There are 3 methods for extracting a part of a string:

 slice(start, end)
 substring(start, end)
  substr(start, length)

JavaScript String slice()

slice() extracts a part of a string and returns the extracted part in a new
string.

The method takes 2 parameters: the start position, and the end position (end
not included).

This example slices out a portion of a string from position 7 to position 12 (13-
1):

Example
let str = "Apple, Banana, Kiwi";
let part = [Link](7, 13);
Try it Yourself »

Note
JavaScript counts positions from zero.

First position is 0.

Second position is 1.

If a parameter is negative, the position is counted from the end of the string.

This example slices out a portion of a string from position -12 to position -6:

Example
let str = "Apple, Banana, Kiwi";
let part = [Link](-12, -6);
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If you omit the second parameter, the method will slice out the rest of the
string:

Example
let part = [Link](7);
Try it Yourself »

or, counting from the end:

Example
let part = [Link](-12);
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JavaScript String substring()

substring() is similar to slice().

The difference is that substring() cannot accept negative indexes.

Example
let str = "Apple, Banana, Kiwi";
let part = [Link](7, 13);
Try it Yourself »

If you omit the second parameter, substring() will slice out the rest of the
string.

JavaScript String substr()

substr() is similar to slice().

The difference is that the second parameter specifies the length of the
extracted part.

Example
let str = "Apple, Banana, Kiwi";
let part = [Link](7, 6);
Try it Yourself »

If you omit the second parameter, substr() will slice out the rest of the string.

Example
let str = "Apple, Banana, Kiwi";
let part = [Link](7);
Try it Yourself »

If the first parameter is negative, the position counts from the end of the string.

Example
let str = "Apple, Banana, Kiwi";
let part = [Link](-4);
Try it Yourself »

Replacing String Content

The replace() method replaces a specified value with another value in a
string:

Example
let text = "Please visit Microsoft!";
let newText = [Link]("Microsoft", "W3Schools");

Try it Yourself »

Note
The replace() method does not change the string it is called on.

The replace() method returns a new string.

By default, the replace() method replaces only the first match:

Example
let text = "Please visit Microsoft and Microsoft!";
let newText = [Link]("Microsoft", "W3Schools");

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By default, the replace() method is case sensitive. Writing MICROSOFT (with

upper-case) will not work:

Example
let text = "Please visit Microsoft!";
let newText = [Link]("MICROSOFT", "W3Schools");

Try it Yourself »

To replace case insensitive, use a regular expression with an /i flag

(insensitive):

Example
let text = "Please visit Microsoft!";
let newText = [Link](/MICROSOFT/i, "W3Schools");

Try it Yourself »

Note
Regular expressions are written without quotes.

To replace all matches, use a regular expression with a /g flag (global

match):

Example
let text = "Please visit Microsoft and Microsoft!";
let newText = [Link](/Microsoft/g, "W3Schools");

Try it Yourself »

Note
You will learn a lot more about regular expressions in the chapter JavaScript
Regular Expressions.

Converting to Upper and Lower Case

A string is converted to upper case with toUpperCase():

A string is converted to lower case with toLowerCase():

JavaScript String toUpperCase()

Example
let text1 = "Hello World!";
let text2 = [Link]();
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JavaScript String toLowerCase()

Example
let text1 = "Hello World!"; // String
let text2 = [Link](); // text2 is text1 converted to
lower
Try it Yourself »

JavaScript String concat()

concat() joins two or more strings:

Example
let text1 = "Hello";
let text2 = "World";
let text3 = [Link](" ", text2);
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The concat() method can be used instead of the plus operator. These two lines
do the same:

Example
text = "Hello" + " " + "World!";
text = "Hello".concat(" ", "World!");

Note
All string methods return a new string. They don't modify the original string.

Formally said:

Strings are immutable: Strings cannot be changed, only replaced.

JavaScript String trim()

The trim() method removes whitespace from both sides of a string:

Example
let text1 = " Hello World! ";
let text2 = [Link]();
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JavaScript String Padding

ECMAScript 2017 added two String methods: padStart and padEnd to support
padding at the beginning and at the end of a string.

JavaScript String padStart()

Example
let text = "5";
let padded = [Link](4,0);
Try it Yourself »

Browser Support
padStart() is an ECMAScript 2017 feature.

It is supported in all modern browsers:

Chrome Edge Firefox Safari

Yes Yes Yes Yes

padStart() is not supported in Internet Explorer.

JavaScript String padEnd()

Example
let text = "5";
let padded = [Link](4,0);
Try it Yourself »

Browser Support
padEnd() is an ECMAScript 2017 feature.

It is supported in all modern browsers:

Chrome Edge Firefox Safari

Yes Yes Yes Yes

padEnd() is not supported in Internet Explorer.

Extracting String Characters
There are 3 methods for extracting string characters:

 charAt(position)
 charCodeAt(position)
 Property access [ ]

JavaScript String charAt()

The charAt() method returns the character at a specified index (position) in a
string:

Example
let text = "HELLO WORLD";
let char = [Link](0);
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JavaScript String charCodeAt()

The charCodeAt() method returns the unicode of the character at a specified
index in a string:

The method returns a UTF-16 code (an integer between 0 and 65535).

Example
let text = "HELLO WORLD";
let char = [Link](0);
Try it Yourself »

Property Access
ECMAScript 5 (2009) allows property access [ ] on strings:
 Example
let text = "HELLO WORLD";
let char = text[0];
Try it Yourself »

Note
Property access might be a little unpredictable:

 It makes strings look like arrays (but they are not)

 If no character is found, [ ] returns undefined, while charAt() returns an empty
string.
 It is read only. str[0] = "A" gives no error (but does not work!)

Example
let text = "HELLO WORLD";
text[0] = "A"; // Gives no error, but does not work

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Converting a String to an Array

If you want to work with a string as an array, you can convert it to an array.

JavaScript String split()

A string can be converted to an array with the split() method:

Example
[Link](",") // Split on commas
[Link](" ") // Split on spaces
[Link]("|") // Split on pipe
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If the separator is omitted, the returned array will contain the whole string in
index [0].

If the separator is "", the returned array will be an array of single characters:
 Example
[Link]("")
Try it Yourself »

Complete String Reference

For a complete String reference, go to our:

Complete JavaScript String Reference.

The reference contains descriptions and examples of all string properties and
methods.

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
Convert the text into an UPPERCASE text:

let txt = "Hello World!";

txt = txt. ;

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise