Check if a Date is between Two Dates using JavaScript

# Table of Contents

1. Check if a Date is between Two Dates using JavaScript
2. Check if a Date is within 30 days in JavaScript
3. Check if a Date is within 24 hours in JavaScript

# Check if a Date is between Two Dates using JavaScript

To check if a date is between two dates:

1. Use the Date() constructor to convert the dates to Date objects.
2. Check if the date is greater than the start date and less than the end date.
3. If both conditions are met, the date is between the two dates.

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const date = new Date('2022-09-24');

const start = new Date('2022-03-18');
const end = new Date('2022-11-22');

if (date > start && date < end) {
  console.log('✅ date is between the 2 dates');
} else {
  console.log('⛔️ date is not in the range');
}

We passed the date strings to the Date() constructor to create Date objects.

We are able to compare the dates because under the hood each date stores a timestamp - the number of milliseconds elapsed between the 1st of January 1970 and the given date.

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const date = new Date('2022-09-24');

// 👇️ 1663977600000
console.log(date.getTime());

We used the logical AND (&&) operator, which checks if both conditions are met before running our if block.

# Dealing with invalid date strings

If you have difficulties creating a valid Date object from your date strings, you can pass 2 types of parameters to the Date() constructor:

1. a valid ISO 8601 string, formatted as YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.sssZ, or just YYYY-MM-DD, if you only have a date without time.
2. multiple, comma-separated parameters that represent the year, month (0 = January to 11 = December), day of the month, hours, minutes and seconds.

Here is an example that splits a string and passes the parameters to the Date() constructor to create a Date object.

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// 👇️ Formatted as MM/DD/YYYY
const dateStr = '07/21/2022';

const [month, day, year] = dateStr.split('/');

// 👇️ Create valid Date object
const date = new Date(+year, month - 1, +day);
console.log(date); // 👉️ Thu Jul 21 2022

The date string is formatted as mm/dd/yyyy, but the approach applies to any other format.

Notice that we subtracted 1 from the month when passing it to the Date() constructor.

We String.split the string on each forward slash to get an array of substrings.

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const str = '07/21/2022';

// 👇️ ['07', '21', '2022']
console.log(str.split('/'))

Once you have created Date objects from the date strings, you can just compare the dates as you would compare numbers because Date objects get converted to a timestamp before the comparison takes place.

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// 👇️ Formatted as MM/DD/YYYY
const dateStr = '07/21/2022';
const [month1, day1, year1] = dateStr.split('/');
const date = new Date(+year1, month1 - 1, +day1);

const startStr = '03/24/2022';
const [month2, day2, year2] = startStr.split('/');
const startDate = new Date(+year2, month2 - 1, +day2);

const endStr = '11/28/2022';
const [month3, day3, year3] = endStr.split('/');
const endDate = new Date(+year3, month3 - 1, +day3);

if (date > startDate && date < endDate) {
  console.log('✅ date is between start and end dates');
} else {
  console.log('⛔️ date is NOT between start and end dates');
}

We repeated the process for each of the dates and split each by the forward slashes to get the month, day and year values.

The if block from the example runs because the date is between the start and end dates.

# Check if a Date is within 30 days in JavaScript

To check if a date is within 30 days:

1. Subtract the timestamp of the current date from the timestamp of the date.
2. Pass the result to the Math.abs() function.
3. Convert the result to days.
4. Check if the days between the dates are less than 30.

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const then = new Date('2022-01-21');
const now = new Date();

const msBetweenDates = Math.abs(then.getTime() - now.getTime());

// 👇️ convert ms to days                 hour   min  sec   ms
const daysBetweenDates = msBetweenDates / (24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);

if (daysBetweenDates < 30) {
  console.log('date is within 30 days');
} else {
  console.log('date is NOT within 30 days');
}

The getTime() method returns the number of milliseconds elapsed between the 1st of January 1970 and the given date.

We have to subtract the timestamp of the first date from the timestamp of the second date.

We used the Math.abs() function to convert a possibly negative to a positive number.

The only parameter the function takes is the number we want to get the absolute value of.

The Math.abs() function returns the provided number if it's positive or zero and the negation of the number if it's negative.

Copied!
console.log(Math.abs(-3)); // 👉️ 3
console.log(Math.abs(-3.5)); // 👉️ 3.5
console.log(Math.abs(-0)); // 👉️ 0

The msBetweenDates variable stores the number of milliseconds between the two dates.

The next step is to convert the milliseconds to days.

Once we have the number of days between the two days, all we have to do is check if the days are less than 30 to see if the date is within 30 days.

Note that this could mean that the date is within 30 days in the future or 30 days in the past.

# Check if a Date is more than 30 days from today's date in JS

To check if a date is more than 30 days from today's date:

1. Get a timestamp representing a date 30 days in the past or future.
2. Compare the result to the timestamp for the specific date.

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// ✅ Check if the date is more than 30 days AGO
function isMoreThan30DaysAgo(date) {
  //                   days  hours min  sec  ms
  const thirtyDaysInMs = 30 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
  const timestampThirtyDaysAgo = new Date().getTime() - thirtyDaysInMs;

  if (timestampThirtyDaysAgo > date) {
    console.log('date is more than 30 days into the past');

    return true;
  } else {
    console.log('date is NOT more than 30 days into the past');

    return false;
  }
}

// 👇️ true
console.log(isMoreThan30DaysAgo(new Date('2021-09-24')));

// 👇️ false
console.log(isMoreThan30DaysAgo(new Date('2021-12-26')));

// -----------------------------------------------------

// ✅ Check if the date is more than 30 days IN THE FUTURE
function isMoreThan30DaysInFuture(date) {
   //                   days  hours min  sec  ms
  const thirtyDaysInMs = 30 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
  const timestampThirtyDaysInFuture = new Date().getTime() + thirtyDaysInMs;

  if (date > timestampThirtyDaysInFuture) {
    console.log('date is more than 30 days into the future');

    return true;
  } else {
    console.log('date is NOT more than 30 days into the future');

    return false;
  }
}

// 👇️ true
console.log(isMoreThan30DaysInFuture(new Date('2029-04-25')));

// 👇️ false
console.log(isMoreThan30DaysInFuture(new Date('2022-02-23')));

We calculated the number of milliseconds there are in 30 days.

The getTime() method returns the number of milliseconds since the Unix Epoch.

If we subtract the number of milliseconds there are in 30 days, we get a timestamp that represents a date and time exactly 30 days ago.

Similarly, if we add the number of milliseconds there are in 30 days to the current timestamp, we get a date that is 30 days in the future.

If you need to check if a given date is more than 30 days into the past:

• get a timestamp of the date 30 days ago.
• check if the timestamp of 30 days ago is greater than the date's timestamp.
• if it is, the date is more than 30 days into the past.

If you need to check if a given date is more than 30 days into the future:

• get a timestamp of the date 30 days into the future.
• check if the passed-in date is greater than the timestamp of the date 30 days into the future.
• if it is, the date is more than 30 days into the future.

# Check if a Date is within 24 hours in JavaScript

To check if a date is within 24 hours:

1. Subtract the timestamp of the current date from the timestamp of the date.
2. Pass the result to the Math.abs() function.
3. Convert the result to hours.
4. Check if the hours between the dates are less than 24.

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const then = new Date('2022-01-24T09:30:20');
const now = new Date();

const msBetweenDates = Math.abs(then.getTime() - now.getTime());

// 👇️ convert ms to hours                  min  sec   ms
const hoursBetweenDates = msBetweenDates / (60 * 60 * 1000);

console.log(hoursBetweenDates);

if (hoursBetweenDates < 24) {
  console.log('date is within 24 hours');
} else {
  console.log('date is NOT within 24 hours');
}

The getTime() method returns the number of milliseconds elapsed between the 1st of January 1970 and the given date.

We have to subtract the timestamp of the first date from the timestamp of the second date.

We used the Math.abs() method to convert a possibly negative to a positive number.

The only parameter the function takes is the number we want to get the absolute value of.

The Math.abs function returns the provided number if it's positive or zero and the negation of the number if it's negative.

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console.log(Math.abs(-6)); // 👉️ 6
console.log(Math.abs(-6.5)); // 👉️ 6.5
console.log(Math.abs(-0)); // 👉️ 0

The msBetweenDates variable stores the number of milliseconds between the two dates.

The next step is to convert the milliseconds to hours.

Note that this could mean that the date is within 24 hours in the future or 24 hours in the past.

# Check if a Date is less than 24 Hours ago using JavaScript

To check if a date is less than 24 hours ago:

1. Convert 24 hours to milliseconds.
2. Get a timestamp that represents the time 24 hours ago.
3. Check if the date's timestamp is greater than the timestamp 24 hours ago.

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function isLessThan24HourAgo(date) {
  // 👇️                    hour  min  sec  milliseconds
  const twentyFourHrInMs = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;

  const twentyFourHoursAgo = Date.now() - twentyFourHrInMs;

  return date > twentyFourHoursAgo;
}

console.log(isLessThan24HourAgo(new Date())); // 👉️ true

console.log(isLessThan24HourAgo(new Date('2022-01-25'))); // 👉️ false

We created a reusable function that takes a Date object as a parameter and checks if the date is less than 24 hours ago.

The first step is to calculate how many milliseconds there are in 24 hours.

The Date.now() method returns the number of milliseconds elapsed since midnight of the 1st of January 1970.

By subtracting 24 hours in milliseconds from the timestamp, we get the moment in time 24 hours ago.

We are able to compare the date to a timestamp because under the hood each date stores a timestamp - the number of milliseconds elapsed between the 1st of January 1970 and the given date.

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const date = new Date('2022-07-24');

// 👇️ 1658620800000
console.log(date.getTime());

# Check if a date is less than 24 hours ago and is not in the future

If you need to check if a date is less than 24 hours ago and is not in the future, add a condition that checks that the date is less than or equal to the current timestamp.

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function isLessThan24HourAgo(date) {
  // 👇️                    hour  min  sec  milliseconds
  const twentyFourHrInMs = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;

  const twentyFourHoursAgo = Date.now() - twentyFourHrInMs;

  return date > twentyFourHoursAgo && date <= Date.now();
}

console.log(isLessThan24HourAgo(new Date())); // 👉️ true

console.log(isLessThan24HourAgo(new Date('2045-09-24'))); // 👉️ false

The second condition would not be met for any dates in the future.

The logical AND (&&) operator will only return true if both conditions are met, otherwise false is returned.

I've also written an article on how to change time format to 24 hours.

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

• Convert Milliseconds to a Date using JavaScript
• Convert Milliseconds to Hours, Minutes, Seconds in JS
• Check if Date is Before or After another Date in JavaScript
• Check if a Date is contained in an Array using JavaScript
• Check if a Date is Today, Yesterday or Tomorrow in JS