TypeError: Cannot read Property 'split' of Undefined in JS

TypeError: Cannot read Property 'split' of Undefined in JS #

The "Cannot read property 'split' of undefined" error occurs when trying to call the split() method on a variable that stores an undefined value. To solve the error, make sure to only call the split method on strings.

Here is an example of how the error occurs.

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const str = undefined;

// ⛔️ TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'split')
str.split(',');

To solve the error, check if the value is a string before calling the split() method.

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const str = undefined;

// ✅ Using if/else statement
if (typeof str === 'string') {
  const arr = str.split(',');

  // do stuff with arr
} else {
  console.log('str is not a string');
}

// ✅ Using optional chaining
const r = str?.split(','); // 👉️ undefined

Alternatively, you can provide a fallback value if the variable is falsy.

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const address = undefined;

// ✅ Provide fallback empty string if falsy
const str = address || '';

The first example checks if the value stored in the str variable is of type string before calling the String.split method.

The second example uses the Optional Chaining (?.) operator to short-circuit in case the str variable stores an undefined or null value.

The next code snippet shows how to use the logical OR (||) operator to provide a fallback of an empty string in case the value to the left of the operator is falsy.

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const address = undefined;

// ✅ Provide fallback empty string if falsy
const str = address || '';

Conclusion #

The "Cannot read property 'split' of undefined" error occurs when trying to call the split() method on a variable that stores an undefined value.

To solve the error, make sure to only call the split() method on strings.