Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators/Strict inequality

The strict inequality operator (!==) checks whether its two operands are not equal, returning a Boolean result. Unlike the inequality operator, the strict inequality operator always considers operands of different types to be different.

Syntax

x !== y

Description

The strict inequality operator checks whether its operands are not equal. It is the negation of the strict equality operator so the following two lines will always give the same result:

x !== y

!(x === y)

For details of the comparison algorithm, see the page for the strict equality operator.

Like the strict equality operator, the strict inequality operator will always consider operands of different types to be different:

3 !== "3"; // true

Examples

Comparing operands of the same type

console.log("hello" !== "hello");   // false
console.log("hello" !== "hola");    // true

console.log(3 !== 3);               // false
console.log(3 !== 4);               // true

console.log(true !== true);         // false
console.log(true !== false);        // true

console.log(null !== null);         // false

Comparing operands of different types

console.log("3" !== 3);           // true

console.log(true !== 1);          // true

console.log(null !== undefined);  // true

Comparing objects

const object1 = {
  name: "hello"
}

const object2 = {
  name: "hello"
}

console.log(object1 !== object2);  // true
console.log(object1 !== object1);  // false

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript (ECMA-262)The definition of 'Equality operators' 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
Strict inequality (`a !== b`)	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

Legend

Full support: Full support