Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global objects/String/search

The search() method executes a search for a match between a regular expression and this String object.

Syntax

str.search(regexp)

Parameters

regexp: A regular expression object.; If a non-RegExp object regexp is passed, it is implicitly converted to a RegExp with new RegExp(regexp).

Return value

The index of the first match between the regular expression and the given string, or -1 if no match was found.

Description

When you want to know whether a pattern is found, and also know its index within a string, use search(). (If you only want to know if it exists, use the similar test() method on the RegExp prototype, which returns a boolean.)

For more information (but slower execution) use match() (similar to the regular expression exec() method).

Examples

Using search()

The following example searches a string with two different regex objects to show a successful search (positive value) vs. an unsuccessful search (-1)

let str = "hey JudE"
let re = /[A-Z]/g
let reDot = /[.]/g
console.log(str.search(re))    // returns 4, which is the index of the first capital letter "J"
console.log(str.search(reDot)) // returns -1 cannot find '.' dot punctuation

Specifications

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

Browser compatibility

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
`search`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support 4	Opera Full support 4	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
`flags` Deprecated'Non-standard'	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox No support 1 — 49	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android No support 4 — 49	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No	nodejs No support No

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support
Non-standard. Expect poor cross-browser support.': Non-standard. Expect poor cross-browser support.
Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.': Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.