SyntaxError

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.

* Some parts of this feature may have varying levels of support.

The SyntaxError object represents an error when trying to interpret syntactically invalid code. It is thrown when the JavaScript engine encounters tokens or token order that does not conform to the syntax of the language when parsing code.

SyntaxError is a serializable object, so it can be cloned with structuredClone() or copied between Workers using postMessage().

SyntaxError is a subclass of Error.

Constructor

SyntaxError()

Creates a new SyntaxError object.

Instance properties

Also inherits instance properties from its parent Error.

These properties are defined on SyntaxError.prototype and shared by all SyntaxError instances.

SyntaxError.prototype.constructor

The constructor function that created the instance object. For SyntaxError instances, the initial value is the SyntaxError constructor.

SyntaxError.prototype.name

Represents the name for the type of error. For SyntaxError.prototype.name, the initial value is "SyntaxError".

Instance methods

Inherits instance methods from its parent Error.

Examples

Catching a SyntaxError

js
try {
  eval("hoo bar");
} catch (e) {
  console.log(e instanceof SyntaxError); // true
  console.log(e.message);
  console.log(e.name); // "SyntaxError"
  console.log(e.stack); // Stack of the error
}

Creating a SyntaxError

js
try {
  throw new SyntaxError("Hello");
} catch (e) {
  console.log(e instanceof SyntaxError); // true
  console.log(e.message); // "Hello"
  console.log(e.name); // "SyntaxError"
  console.log(e.stack); // Stack of the error
}

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript® 2027 Language Specification
# sec-native-error-types-used-in-this-standard-syntaxerror

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
SyntaxError
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
SyntaxError() constructor
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
SyntaxError is serializable
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 77 (Release date: 2019-09-10)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 79 (Release date: 2020-01-15)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 103 (Release date: 2022-07-26)
footnote
footnote Version 103 serializable properties: name, message, cause, fileName, lineNumber and columnNumber.
footnote Version 104 also serializes stack in the main thread (window.postMessage() and structuredClone()).
footnote Version 110 also serializes stack in workers (worker.postMessage() and structuredClone()).
Opera – Full support
Opera 64 (Release date: 2019-10-07)
footnote Full support
Safari – No support
Safari
footnote No support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 77 (Release date: 2019-09-10)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 103 (Release date: 2022-07-26)
footnote
footnote Version 103 serializable properties: name, message, cause, fileName, lineNumber and columnNumber.
footnote Version 104 also serializes stack in the main thread (window.postMessage() and structuredClone()).
footnote Version 110 also serializes stack in workers (worker.postMessage() and structuredClone()).
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 55 (Release date: 2019-12-03)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 12 (Release date: 2020-06-19)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 77 (Release date: 2019-09-10)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support
Bun – No support
Bun
footnote No support
Deno – No support
Deno
footnote No support
Node.js – No support
Node.js
footnote No support

Legend

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

Full support
Full support
No support
No support
See implementation notes.

See also