BigInt.asIntN()

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since September 2020.

The BigInt.asIntN() static method truncates a BigInt value to the given number of least significant bits and returns that value as a signed integer.

Try it

const I64_CEIL = 2n ** 63n;

console.log(BigInt.asIntN(64, I64_CEIL - 1n));
// 9223372036854775807n (2n ** 64n - 1n, the maximum non-wrapping value)
console.log(BigInt.asIntN(64, I64_CEIL));
// -9223372036854775808n (wraps to min value)
console.log(BigInt.asIntN(64, I64_CEIL + 1n));
// -9223372036854775807n (min value + 1n)
console.log(BigInt.asIntN(64, I64_CEIL * 2n));
// 0n (wrapped around to zero)
console.log(BigInt.asIntN(64, -I64_CEIL * -42n));
// 0n (also wraps on negative multiples)

Syntax

js
BigInt.asIntN(bits, bigint)

Parameters

bits

The amount of bits available for the returned BigInt. Should be an integer between 0 and 253 - 1, inclusive.

bigint

The BigInt value to truncate to fit into the supplied bits.

Return value

The value of bigint modulo 2^bits, as a signed integer.

Exceptions

RangeError

Thrown if bits is negative or greater than 253 - 1.

Description

The BigInt.asIntN method truncates a BigInt value to the given number of bits, and interprets the result as a signed integer. For example, for BigInt.asIntN(3, 25n), the value 25n is truncated to 1n:

25n = 00011001 (base 2)
          ^=== Use only the three remaining bits
===>       001 (base 2) = 1n

If the leading bit of the remaining number is 1, the result is negative. For example, BigInt.asIntN(4, 25n) yields -7n, because 1001 is the encoding of -7 under two's complement:

25n = 00011001 (base 2)
         ^==== Use only the four remaining bits
===>      1001 (base 2) = -7n

Note: BigInt values are always encoded as two's complement in binary.

Unlike similar language APIs such as Number.prototype.toExponential(), asIntN is a static property of BigInt, so you always use it as BigInt.asIntN(), rather than as a method of a BigInt value. Exposing asIntN() as a "standard library function" allows interop with asm.js.

Examples

Staying in 64-bit ranges

The BigInt.asIntN() method can be useful to stay in the range of 64-bit arithmetic.

js
const max = 2n ** (64n - 1n) - 1n;

BigInt.asIntN(64, max); // 9223372036854775807n

BigInt.asIntN(64, max + 1n); // -9223372036854775808n
// negative because the 64th bit of 2^63 is 1

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript® 2025 Language Specification
# sec-bigint.asintn

Browser compatibility

Report problems with this compatibility data on GitHub
desktopmobileserver
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
Deno
Node.js
asIntN

Legend

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Full support
Full support

See also