Date.prototype.toTimeString()

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

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

Try it

const event = new Date("August 19, 1975 23:15:30");

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

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® 2027 Language Specification
# sec-date.prototype.totimestring

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
toTimeString
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 5 (Release date: 2000-12-06)
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

See also