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JavaScript•Working with Data

JavaScript RegExp Objects

The RegExp Object

In JavaScript, RegExp is a regular expression object with predefined properties and methods.

Using test()

The test()

method is a RegExp expression method. It searches a string for a pattern, and returns true or false, depending on the result. The following example searches a string for the character "e":

Example

const pattern = /e/;
pattern.test("The best things in life are free!");
Since there is an "e" in the string, the output of the code above will be:

true You don't have to put the regular expression in a variable first. The two lines above can be shortened to one:

/e/.test("The best things in life are free!");

Using exec()

The exec()

method is a RegExp expression method. It searches a string for a specified pattern, and returns the found text as an object. If no match is found, it returns an empty (null) object. The following example searches a string for the character "e":

Example

/e/.exec("The best things in life are free!");
The RegExp.escape() Method

The

RegExp.escape() method returns string where characters that belongs to the regular expression syntax are escaped.

This makes it possible to treat characters like +, *, ?, ^, $, (, ), [, ], {, }, |, and \ literally, and not as part of a regular expression.

Example

Create a regular expression that matches the string "[*]":

// Escape a text for to use as a regular expression const safe = RegExp.escape("[*]";
// Build a new reglar expression const regex = new RegExp(safe);
// Text to replace within const oldText = "[*] is a web school.";
// Perform the replace const newText = oldText.replace(regex, "W3Schools");

Browser Support

RegExp.escape() is an ECMAScript 2025 feature. JavaScript 2025 is fully supported in all modern browsers since

May 2025

Chrome

136

Edge

136

Firefox

129

Safari

18.2

Opera

120

Apr 2025

Apr 2025

Aug 2024

Des 2024

May 2025

See Also:

JavaScript RegExp Tutorial

JavaScript RegExp Flags

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RegExp Methods