Date.prototype.toDateString()

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

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

Try it

Syntax

js
toDateString()

Parameters

None.

Return value

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

Description

Date instances refer to a specific point in time. toDateString() interprets the date in the local timezone and formats the date part in English. It always uses the following format, separated by spaces:

  1. First three letters of the week day name
  2. First three letters of the month name
  3. Two-digit day of the month, padded on the left a zero if necessary
  4. Four-digit year (at least), padded on the left with zeros if necessary. May have a negative sign

For example: "Thu Jan 01 1970".

  • If you only want to get the time part, use toTimeString().
  • If you want to get both the date and time, use toString().
  • 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 toLocaleDateString().

Examples

Using toDateString()

js
const d = new Date(0);

console.log(d.toString()); // "Thu Jan 01 1970 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)"
console.log(d.toDateString()); // "Thu Jan 01 1970"

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript Language Specification
# sec-date.prototype.todatestring

Browser compatibility

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See also