Date.prototype.toString()

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

{{InteractiveExample("JavaScript Demo: Date.prototype.toString()", "shorter")}}

```js interactive-example const event = new Date("August 19, 1975 23:15:30");

console.log(event.toString()); // Expected output: "Tue Aug 19 1975 23:15:30 GMT+0200 (CEST)" // Note: your timezone may vary

## Syntax

```js-nolint
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 [Symbol.toPrimitive]() method, that method always takes priority over toString() when a Date object is implicitly coerced to a string. However, Date.prototype[Symbol.toPrimitive]() still calls this.toString() internally.

The {{jsxref("Date")}} object overrides the {{jsxref("Object/toString", "toString()")}} method of {{jsxref("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 {{jsxref("Date/toDateString", "toDateString()")}} and {{jsxref("Date/toTimeString", "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 {{jsxref("Date")}} instances. If the this value does not inherit from Date.prototype, a {{jsxref("TypeError")}} is thrown.

• If you only want to get the date part, use {{jsxref("Date/toDateString", "toDateString()")}}.
• If you only want to get the time part, use {{jsxref("Date/toTimeString", "toTimeString()")}}.
• If you want to make the date interpreted as UTC instead of local timezone, use {{jsxref("Date/toUTCString", "toUTCString()")}}.
• If you want to format the date in a more user-friendly format (e.g., localization), use {{jsxref("Date/toLocaleString", "toLocaleString()")}}.

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#

{{Specifications}}

Browser compatibility#

{{Compat}}

See also#

• {{jsxref("Object.prototype.toString()")}}
• {{jsxref("Date.prototype.toDateString()")}}
• {{jsxref("Date.prototype.toLocaleString()")}}
• {{jsxref("Date.prototype.toTimeString()")}}