Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global objects/Symbol/description

The read-only description property is a string returning the optional description of Symbol objects.

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Description

Symbol objects can be created with an optional description which can be used for debugging but not to access the symbol itself. The Symbol.prototype.description property can be used to read that description. It is different to Symbol.prototype.toString() as it does not contain the enclosing "Symbol()" string. See the examples.

Examples

Using description

Symbol('desc').toString();   // "Symbol(desc)"
Symbol('desc').description;  // "desc"
Symbol('').description;      // ""
Symbol().description;        // undefined

// well-known symbols
Symbol.iterator.toString();  // "Symbol(Symbol.iterator)"
Symbol.iterator.description; // "Symbol.iterator"

// global symbols
Symbol.for('foo').toString();  // "Symbol(foo)"
Symbol.for('foo').description; // "foo"

Specifications

Specification

ECMAScript (ECMA-262)The definition of 'get Symbol.prototype.description' 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
`description`	Chrome Full support 70	Edge Full support 79	Firefox Full support 63	IE No support No	Opera Full support 57	Safari Full support 12.1 Full support 12.1 Partial support 12 Notes' Notes' No support for an undefined description.	WebView Android Full support 70	Chrome Android Full support 70	Firefox Android Full support 63	Opera Android Full support 49	Safari iOS Full support 12.2 Full support 12.2 Partial support 12 Notes' Notes' No support for an undefined description.	Samsung Internet Android Full support 10.0	nodejs Full support 11.0.0

Legend

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