How to Replace all Dots in a String in JavaScript

# Replace all dots in a String in JavaScript

Use the String.replaceAll() method to replace all dots in a string, e.g. str.replaceAll('.', '-');.

The replaceAll method returns a new string with all matches replaced by the provided replacement.

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const str = 'a.b.c';

const withoutDots = str.replaceAll('.', '-');
console.log(withoutDots); // 👉️ 'a-b-c'

If you want to remove all dots from the string, use an empty string as the replacement.

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const str = 'a.b.c';

const withoutDots = str.replaceAll('.', '');
console.log(withoutDots); // 👉️ 'abc'

The String.replaceAll() method returns a new string with all matches of a pattern replaced by the provided replacement.

The method takes the following parameters:

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const str = 'a.b.c';

const withoutDots = str.replaceAll('.', '-');
console.log(withoutDots); // 👉️ 'a-b-c'

In the example, we replace all occurrences of a dot with a hyphen.

The String.replaceAll() method returns a new string with the matches of the pattern replaced. The method doesn't change the original string.

Strings are immutable in JavaScript.

If you have to do this often, define a reusable function.

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function replaceAllDots(string, replacement) {
  return string.replaceAll('.', replacement);
}

// 👇️ bobby-hadz
console.log(replaceAllDots('bobby.hadz', '-'));

// 👇️ bobby!hadz
console.log(replaceAllDots('bobby.hadz', '!'));

We defined a function that takes a string and a replacement as parameters and replaces all occurrences of a dot in the string.

Alternatively, you can use the String.split() and Array.join() methods.

# Replace all dots in a String using String.split()

This is a two-step process:

1. Use the split() method to split the string into an array.
2. Use the join() method to join the array into a string with a separator.

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const str = 'a.b.c';

const withoutDots = str.split('.').join('_');
console.log(withoutDots); // 👉️ 'a_b_c'

If you want to remove all dots from the string, use an empty string separator when joining the array.

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const str = 'a.b.c';

const withoutDots = str.split('.').join('');
console.log(withoutDots); // 👉️ 'abc'

We used the String.split() method to split the string on each dot.

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const str = 'a.b.c';

const split = str.split('.');

console.log(split); // 👉️ ['a', 'b', 'c']

The String.split() method takes a separator and splits the string into an array on each occurrence of the provided delimiter.

The String.split() method takes the following 2 parameters:

The last step is to use the Array.join() method to join all array elements with a separator (replacement for each dot).

If a value for the separator argument is omitted, the array elements are joined with a comma ,.

If the separator argument is set to an empty string, the array elements are joined without any characters in between them.

You can create a reusable function if you have to do this often.

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function replaceAllDots(string, replacement) {
  return string.split('.').join(replacement);
}

// 👇️ bobby-hadz
console.log(replaceAllDots('bobby.hadz', '-'));

// 👇️ bobby!hadz
console.log(replaceAllDots('bobby.hadz', '!'));

The function takes a string and a replacement as parameters and replaces all occurrences of a dot in the string.

# Replace all dots in a String using String.replace()

Alternatively, you can use the String.replace() method.

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const str = 'a.b.c';

const withoutDots = str.replace(/\./g, '_');
console.log(withoutDots); // 👉️ 'a_b_c'

If you want to remove all dots from the string, use an empty string as the replacement string.

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const str = 'a.b.c';

const withoutDots = str.replace(/\./g, '');
console.log(withoutDots); // 👉️ 'abc'

The String.replace() method returns a new string with one, some, or all matches of a regular expression replaced with the provided replacement.

The method takes the following parameters:

The String.replace() method returns a new string with the matches of the pattern replaced. The method doesn't change the original string.

The \ character, before the dot, is used to escape special characters.

The dot . character has a special meaning in regular expressions and matches one or more characters of any type.

We want the dot to be treated as a literal character, so we escape it.

We used the g (global) flag because we want to match all occurrences of the dot . in the string, and not just the first occurrence.

If you have to do this often, extract the logic into a reusable function.

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function replaceAllDots(string, replacement) {
  return string.replace(/\./g, replacement);
}

// 👇️ bobby-hadz
console.log(replaceAllDots('bobby.hadz', '-'));

// 👇️ bobby!hadz
console.log(replaceAllDots('bobby.hadz', '!'));

The function takes a string and a replacement as parameters and replaces all occurrences of a dot in the string.

Which approach you pick is a matter of personal preference. I'd use the String.replaceAll() method as I find it quite direct and intuitive.

# Additional Resources

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

• Remove/Replace all Commas from a String in JavaScript
• Remove all Event Listeners from an Element using JavaScript
• How to Remove all Line Breaks from a String in JavaScript