UNB/ CS/ David Bremner/ teaching/ cs2613/ books/ mdn/ Reference/ Global Objects/ Date/ Date.prototype.toString()

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

Syntax

toString()

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 [@@toPrimitive]() method, that method always takes priority over toString() when a Date object is implicitly coerced to a string. However, Date.prototype[@@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.

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