The JavaScript `String.trim()` method explained

In JavaScript, the trim() method removes whitespace from both ends of a string. It returns a new copy of the string with whitespace removed.

Table of Contents

• How It Works
• Alternative Methods
• More Examples
• Browser Compatibility
• Conclusion
• Resources

How it works

Syntax

string.trim();

Example:

const string = "  Hello World!  ";
console.log(string.trim()); // "Hello World!"

Parameters

The trim() method does not take any parameters.

Return value

A new string with whitespace removed from both ends while leaving the original string unchanged.

Alternative methods

If you want to remove whitespace either from the beginning or the end of a string, you can use the trimStart() or trimEnd() methods.

const string = "  Hello World!  ";
console.log(string.trimStart());
// "Hello World!  "

console.log(string.trimEnd());
// "  Hello World!"

console.log(string.trim());
// "Hello World!"

console.log(string);
// "  Hello World!  "

Alternatively, it's possible to use the regular expression to achieve the same result.

const string = "  Hello World!  ";
console.log(string.replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, ""));
// "Hello World!"

If you're really curious about how this regex works, check out this Stack Overflow answer.

More examples

The trim() method can come in handy when you need to remove unwanted whitespace from a string in user input or search queries.

See the Pen
The JavaScript trim() explained by Technophile (@dostonnabotov)
on CodePen.

Browser compatibility

Since the trim() method is part of the ECMAScript5 (ES5 - JavaScript 2009) standard, it's well supported in all browsers.

Conclusion

I hope this article helped you understand how the trim() method works. Regarding any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below. Thanks for reading! 🙂

Resources

• MDN Web Docs
• Stack Overflow
• W3Schools