Change getSeconds to 2 digits in JavaScript

Change getSeconds to 2 digits in JavaScript #

To change the getSeconds() method to 2 digits:

1. Convert the result from calling getSeconds() 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('March 14, 2025 05:24:07');

const seconds = String(date.getSeconds()).padStart(2, '0');
console.log(seconds); // 👉️ 07

The padStart method has to be used on a string, so the first step is to convert the number of seconds 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 seconds 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 14, 2025 13:24:22');

const seconds = String(date.getSeconds()).padStart(2, '0');
console.log(seconds); // 👉️ 22

The seconds were set to 22 (2 digits), so the padStart method didn't add a leading zero.

To change the getSeconds() method to 2 digits, check if the seconds are less than or equal to 9, if they are, add a leading zero to the seconds using the addition (+) operator, if they aren't there is no need to add a leading zero.

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const date = new Date('September 24, 2025 05:24:06');

let seconds = date.getSeconds();
seconds = seconds <= 9 ? '0' + seconds : seconds;
console.log(seconds); // 👉️ 06

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

If the seconds are 9 or less, we add a leading zero, otherwise we return the seconds as is.

Further Reading #

• Change getDate to 2 digits in JavaScript
• Change getHours to 12 Hour Format in JavaScript