escape()
Deprecated: This feature is no longer recommended. Though some browsers might still support it, it may have already been removed from the relevant web standards, may be in the process of being dropped, or may only be kept for compatibility purposes. Avoid using it, and update existing code if possible; see thecompatibility table at the bottom of this page to guide your decision. Be aware that this feature may cease to work at any time.
Note:escape() is a non-standard function implemented by browsers and was only standardized for cross-engine compatibility. It is not required to be implemented by all JavaScript engines and may not work everywhere. UseencodeURIComponent() orencodeURI() if possible.
Theescape() function computes a new string in which certain characters have been replaced by hexadecimal escape sequences.
Syntax
escape(str)Parameters
strA string to be encoded.
Return value
A new string in which certain characters have been escaped.
Description
escape() is a function property of the global object.
Theescape() function replaces all characters with escape sequences, with the exception ofASCII word characters (A–Z, a–z, 0–9, _) and@\*_+-./. Characters are escaped by UTF-16 code units. If the code unit's value is less than 256, it is represented by a two-digit hexadecimal number in the format%XX, left-padded with 0 if necessary. Otherwise, it is represented by a four-digit hexadecimal number in the format%uXXXX, left-padded with 0 if necessary.
Note:This function was used mostly forpercent-encoding and is partly based on the escape format inRFC 1738. The escape format isnot anescape sequence in string literals. You can replace%XX with\xXX and%uXXXX with\uXXXX to get a string containing actual string-literal escape sequences.
Examples
Using escape()
escape("abc123"); // "abc123"escape("äöü"); // "%E4%F6%FC"escape("ć"); // "%u0107"// special charactersescape("@*_+-./"); // "@*_+-./"Specifications
| Specification |
|---|
| ECMAScript® 2026 Language Specification # sec-escape-string |