Symbol.prototype.valueOf()

Baseline Widely available

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

The valueOf() method of Symbol values returns this symbol value.

Try it

const symbol = Symbol("foo");

console.log(typeof Object(symbol));
// Expected output: "object"

console.log(typeof Object(symbol).valueOf());
// Expected output: "symbol"

Syntax

js
valueOf()

Parameters

None.

Return value

The primitive value of the specified Symbol object.

Description

The valueOf() method of Symbol returns the primitive value of a Symbol object as a Symbol data type.

JavaScript calls the valueOf() method to convert an object to a primitive value. You rarely need to invoke the valueOf() method yourself; JavaScript automatically invokes it when encountering an object where a primitive value is expected.

Examples

Using valueOf()

js
const sym = Symbol("example");
sym === sym.valueOf(); // true

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript® 2027 Language Specification
# sec-symbol.prototype.valueof

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
valueOf
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 38 (Release date: 2014-10-07)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 36 (Release date: 2015-02-24)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 25 (Release date: 2014-10-15)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 9 (Release date: 2015-09-30)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 38 (Release date: 2014-10-08)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 36 (Release date: 2015-02-27)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 25 (Release date: 2014-10-16)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 9 (Release date: 2015-09-16)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 3 (Release date: 2015-04-10)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 38 (Release date: 2014-10-08)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 9 (Release date: 2015-09-16)
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 0.12 (Release date: 2015-02-06)
footnote Full support

Legend

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Full support
Full support

See also