Change getDate to 2 digits in JavaScript

Change getDate to 2 digits in JavaScript #

To change the getDate() method to 2 digits:

1. Convert the result from calling getDate() to a string.
2. Use the padStart() method to add a leading zero if it's necessary.
3. The padStart method allows us to add a leading zero to the start of the string until it reaches a specified target length.

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const date = new Date('April 04, 2025 05:24:07');

const day = String(date.getDate()).padStart(2, '0');
console.log(day); // 👉️ 04

The padStart method has to be used on a string, so the first step is to convert the day of the month to a string.

We passed the following 2 parameters to the padStart method:

1. target length - the length of the string the padStart method should return, once it has been padded.
2. pad string - the string we want to pad our existing string with, in our case - 0.

We know that the days should always have a length of 2, so that's what we set as a target length.

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const date = new Date('March 24, 2025 12:24:22');

const day = String(date.getDate()).padStart(2, '0');
console.log(day); // 👉️ 24

The day of the month is 24 (2 digits), so the padStart method didn't add a leading zero.

To change the getDate() method to 2 digits, check if the day of the month returns 9 or less, if so, add a leading zero to the day using the addition (+) operator.

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const date = new Date('April 07, 2025 10:24:06');

let day = date.getDate();
day = day <= 9 ? '0' + day : day;
console.log(day); // 👉️ 07

We used a ternary operator, which is very similar to an if/else statement.

If the day of the month is 9 or less, we add a leading zero, otherwise we return the day.

Further Reading #

• Change getMonth to 2 digits in JavaScript
• Change getSeconds to 2 digits in JavaScript