Warning: Although
unescape() is not strictly deprecated (as in "removed from the Web standards"), it is defined in Annex B of the ECMA-262 standard, whose introduction states:
… All of the language features and behaviours specified in this annex have one or more undesirable characteristics and in the absence of legacy usage would be removed from this specification. …
… Programmers should not use or assume the existence of these features and behaviours when writing new ECMAScript code. …
The unescape() function computes a new string in which hexadecimal escape sequences are replaced with the character that it represents. The escape sequences might be introduced by a function like escape. Usually, decodeURI or decodeURIComponent are preferred over unescape.
Note: Do not use
unescape to decode URIs, use decodeURI instead.Syntax
unescape(str)Parameters
str- A string to be decoded.
Return value
A new string in which certain characters have been unescaped.
Description
The unescape function is a property of the global object.
Examples
unescape('abc123'); // "abc123"
unescape('%E4%F6%FC'); // "äöü"
unescape('%u0107'); // "ć"
Specifications
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| ECMAScript 1st Edition (ECMA-262) The definition of 'unescape' in that specification. |
Standard | Initial definition. |
| ECMAScript 5.1 (ECMA-262) The definition of 'unescape' in that specification. |
Standard | Defined in the (informative) Compatibility Annex B |
| ECMAScript 2015 (6th Edition, ECMA-262) The definition of 'unescape' in that specification. |
Standard | Defined in the (normative) Annex B for Additional ECMAScript Features for Web Browsers |
| ECMAScript Latest Draft (ECMA-262) The definition of 'unescape' in that specification. |
Draft | Defined in the (normative) Annex B for Additional ECMAScript Features for Web Browsers |
Browser compatibility
The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
Update compatibility data on GitHub
| Desktop | Mobile | Server | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support Yes | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support Yes | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Edge Mobile Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes | nodejs Full support Yes |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.
- Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.
See also
Document Tags and Contributors
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Contributors to this page:
ExE-Boss,
fscholz,
binoculars,
stevenwdv,
jameshkramer,
nmve,
eduardoboucas,
x2357,
Ms2ger,
Sebastianz
Last updated by:
ExE-Boss,