Date.prototype.toTimeString()

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

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Syntax

js
toTimeString()

Parameters

None.

Return value

A string representing the time 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. toTimeString() interprets the date in the local timezone and formats the time part in English. It always uses the format of hh:mm:ss GMT±xxxx (TZ), where:

Format String Description
hh Hour, as two digits with leading zero if required
mm Minute, as two digits with leading zero if required
ss Seconds, as two digits with leading zero if required
±xxxx The local timezone's offset — two digits for hours and two digits for minutes (e.g. -0500, +0800)
TZ The timezone's name (e.g. PDT, PST)

For example: "04:42:04 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)".

  • If you only want to get the date part, use toDateString().
  • 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 toLocaleTimeString().

Examples

Using toTimeString()

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.toTimeString()); // "00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)"

Specifications

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

Browser compatibility

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See also