WeakMap.prototype.set()

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 set() method of WeakMap instances adds a new entry with a specified key and value to this WeakMap, or updates an existing entry if the key already exists.

Try it

const weakmap = new WeakMap();
const object1 = {};
const object2 = {};

weakmap.set(object1, "foo");
weakmap.set(object2, "bar");

console.log(weakmap.get(object1));
// Expected output: "foo"

console.log(weakmap.get(object2));
// Expected output: "bar"

Syntax

js
set(key, value)

Parameters

key

The key of the entry to add to or modify within the WeakMap object. Must be either an object or a non-registered symbol. Object keys are compared by reference, not by value.

value

The value of the entry to add to or modify within the WeakMap object. Can be any value.

Return value

The WeakMap object.

Exceptions

TypeError

Thrown if key is not an object or a non-registered symbol.

Examples

Using set()

js
const wm = new WeakMap();
const obj = {};

// Add new elements to the WeakMap
wm.set(obj, "foo").set(window, "bar"); // chainable

// Update an element in the WeakMap
wm.set(obj, "baz");

// Using a non-registered symbol as key
const sym = Symbol("foo");
wm.set(sym, "baz");
wm.set(Symbol.iterator, "qux");

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript® 2027 Language Specification
# sec-weakmap.prototype.set

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
set
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 36 (Release date: 2014-07-16)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 6 (Release date: 2011-08-16)
footnote
footnote Before Firefox 38, this method threw a TypeError when the key parameter was not an object. This has been fixed in version 38 and later to return false as per the ES2015 standard.
Opera – Full support
Opera 23 (Release date: 2014-07-22)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 8 (Release date: 2014-10-16)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 36 (Release date: 2014-07-16)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 6 (Release date: 2011-08-16)
footnote
footnote Before Firefox for Android 38, this method threw a TypeError when the key parameter was not an object. This has been fixed in version 38 and later to return false as per the ES2015 standard.
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 24 (Release date: 2014-09-10)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 8 (Release date: 2014-09-17)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 3 (Release date: 2015-04-10)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 37 (Release date: 2014-09-03)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 8 (Release date: 2014-09-17)
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

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

Full support
Full support
See implementation notes.

See also