Web/API/TextDecoder/decode

This is an experimental technologyCheck the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The TextDecoder.prototype.decode() method returns a DOMString containing the text, given in parameters, decoded with the specific method for that TextDecoder object.

Syntax

b1 = decoder.decode(buffer, options);
b2 = decoder.decode(buffer);
b3 = decoder.decode();

Parameters

buffer Optional: Is either an ArrayBuffer or an ArrayBufferView containing the text to decode.
options Optional: Is a TextDecodeOptions dictionary with the property:

stream A Boolean flag indicating that additional data will follow in subsequent calls to decode(). Set to true if processing the data in chunks, and false for the final chunk or if the data is not chunked. It defaults to false.

Example

This example encodes and decodes the euro symbol, €.

HTML

<p>Encoded value: <span id="encoded-value"></span></p>
<p>Decoded value: <span id="decoded-value"></span></p>

JavaScript

const encoder = new TextEncoder();
const array = encoder.encode('€'); // Uint8Array(3) [226, 130, 172]
document.getElementById('encoded-value').textContent = array;

const decoder = new TextDecoder();
const str = decoder.decode(array); // String "€"
document.getElementById('decoded-value').textContent = str;

Result

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
EncodingThe definition of 'TextDecoder.decode()' in that specification.	Living Standard	Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`decode`	Chrome Full support 38	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox Full support 19 Full support 19 Partial support 18 Notes' Notes' Implemented a slightly different version of the spec.	IE No support No	Opera Full support 25	Safari Full support 10.1	WebView Android Full support 38	Chrome Android Full support 38	Firefox Android Full support 19 Full support 19 Partial support 18 Notes' Notes' Implemented a slightly different version of the spec.	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support 10.3	Samsung Internet Android Full support 3.0

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support
See implementation notes.': See implementation notes.