Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global objects/Date/valueOf

The valueOf() method returns the primitive value of a Date object.

Syntax

dateObj.valueOf()

Return value

The number of milliseconds between 1 January 1970 00:00:00 UTC and the given date.

Description

The valueOf() method returns the primitive value of a Date object as a number data type, the number of milliseconds since midnight 01 January, 1970 UTC.

This method is functionally equivalent to the Date.prototype.getTime() method.

This method is usually called internally by JavaScript and not explicitly in code.

Examples

Using valueOf()

var x = new Date(56, 6, 17);
var myVar = x.valueOf();      // assigns -424713600000 to myVar

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript (ECMA-262)The definition of 'Date.prototype.valueOf' in that specification.

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table in this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile						Server
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet	Node.js
`valueOf`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support 4	Opera Full support 3	Safari Full support 1	WebView Android Full support 1	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 10.1	Safari iOS Full support 1	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0	nodejs Full support 0.1.100

Legend

Full support: Full support