Date.prototype.setYear()

Deprecated: This feature is no longer recommended. Though some browsers might still support it, it may have already been removed from the relevant web standards, may be in the process of being dropped, or may only be kept for compatibility purposes. Avoid using it, and update existing code if possible; see the compatibility table at the bottom of this page to guide your decision. Be aware that this feature may cease to work at any time.

The setYear() method of Date instances sets the year for a specified date according to local time.

However, the way the legacy setYear() method sets year values is different from how the preferred setFullYear() method sets year values — and in some cases, also different from how new Date() and Date.parse() set year values. Specifically, given two-digit numbers, such as 22 and 61:

  • setYear() interprets any two-digit number as an offset to 1900; so date.setYear(22) results in the year value being set to 1922, and date.setYear(61) results in the year value being set to 1961. (In contrast, while new Date(61, 1) also results in the year value being set to 1961, new Date("2/1/22") results in the year value being set to 2022; and similarly for Date.parse()).

  • setFullYear() does no special interpretation but instead uses the literal two-digit value as-is to set the year; so date.setFullYear(61) results in the year value being set to 0061, and date.setFullYear(22) results in the year value being set to 0022.

Because of those differences in behavior, you should no longer use the legacy setYear() method, but should instead use the preferred setFullYear() method.

Syntax

js
setYear(yearValue)

Parameters

yearValue

An integer.

Return value

Changes the Date object in place, and returns its new timestamp. If yearValue is NaN (or other values that get coerced to NaN, such as undefined), the date is set to Invalid Date and NaN is returned.

Description

If yearValue is a number between 0 and 99 (inclusive), then the year for dateObj is set to 1900 + yearValue. Otherwise, the year for dateObj is set to yearValue.

Examples

Using setYear()

The first two lines set the year to 1996. The third sets the year to 2000.

js
const theBigDay = new Date();

theBigDay.setYear(96);
theBigDay.setYear(1996);
theBigDay.setYear(2000);

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript® 2027 Language Specification
# sec-date.prototype.setyear

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile server
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
Bun
Deno
Node.js
setYear
Deprecated
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 1 (Release date: 2008-12-11)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 1 (Release date: 2004-11-09)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 3 (Release date: 1997-12-01)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 1 (Release date: 2003-06-23)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 18 (Release date: 2012-06-27)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 4 (Release date: 2011-03-29)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 10.1 (Release date: 2010-11-09)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1 (Release date: 2013-04-27)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support
Bun – Full support
Bun 1 (Release date: 2023-09-08)
footnote Full support
Deno – Full support
Deno 1 (Release date: 2020-05-13)
footnote Full support
Node.js – Full support
Node.js 0.10 (Release date: 2013-03-11)
footnote Full support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.

See also