ThetoString() method ofDate 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

toString()

Parameters

None.

Return value

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

Description

ThetoString() method is part of thetype coercion protocol. BecauseDate has a[Symbol.toPrimitive]() method, that method always takes priority overtoString() when aDate object is implicitlycoerced to a string. However,Date.prototype[Symbol.toPrimitive]() still callsthis.toString() internally.

TheDate object overrides thetoString() method ofObject.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 intoDateString() andtoTimeString() 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 onDate instances. If thethis value does not inherit fromDate.prototype, aTypeError is thrown.

• If you only want to get thedate part, usetoDateString().
• If you only want to get thetime part, usetoTimeString().
• If you want to make the date interpreted as UTC instead of local timezone, usetoUTCString().
• If you want to format the date in a more user-friendly format (e.g., localization), usetoLocaleString().

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

• Object.prototype.toString()
• Date.prototype.toDateString()
• Date.prototype.toLocaleString()
• Date.prototype.toTimeString()