Date.prototype.toString() - JavaScript | MDN (original) (raw)

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The toString() method of Date instances returns a string representing this date interpreted in the local timezone.

Try it

const event = new Date("August 19, 1975 23:15:30");

console.log(event.toString());
// Expected output: "Tue Aug 19 1975 23:15:30 GMT+0200 (CEST)"
// Note: your timezone may vary

Syntax

Parameters

None.

Return value

A string representing the given date (see description for the format). Returns "Invalid Date" if the date is invalid.

Description

The toString() method is part of the type coercion protocol. Because Date has a Symbol.toPrimitive method, that method always takes priority over toString() when a Date object is implicitly coerced to a string. However, Date.prototype[Symbol.toPrimitive]() still calls this.toString() internally.

The Date object overrides the toString() method of Object. Date.prototype.toString() returns a string representation of the Date as interpreted in the local timezone, containing both the date and the time — it joins the string representation specified in toDateString() and toTimeString() together, adding a space in between. For example: "Thu Jan 01 1970 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)".

Date.prototype.toString() must be called on Date instances. If the this value does not inherit from Date.prototype, a TypeError is thrown.

• If you only want to get the date part, use toDateString().
• If you only want to get the time part, use toTimeString().
• If you want to make the date interpreted as UTC instead of local timezone, use toUTCString().
• If you want to format the date in a more user-friendly format (e.g., localization), use toLocaleString().

Examples

Using toString()

const d = new Date(0);
console.log(d.toString()); // "Thu Jan 01 1970 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)"

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also