How to Replace all Dots in a String in JavaScript

avatar
Borislav Hadzhiev

Last updated: Dec 25, 2022
4 min

banner

# 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.

index.js
const str = 'a.b.c'; const withoutDots = str.replaceAll('.', '-'); console.log(withoutDots); // ๐Ÿ‘‰๏ธ 'a-b-c'

replace all dots in string

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

index.js
const str = 'a.b.c'; const withoutDots = str.replaceAll('.', ''); console.log(withoutDots); // ๐Ÿ‘‰๏ธ '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:

NameDescription
patternThe pattern to look for in the string. Can be a string or a regular expression.
replacementA string used to replace the substring match by the supplied pattern.
index.js
const str = 'a.b.c'; const withoutDots = str.replaceAll('.', '-'); console.log(withoutDots); // ๐Ÿ‘‰๏ธ '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.

index.js
function replaceAllDots(string, replacement) { return string.replaceAll('.', replacement); } // ๐Ÿ‘‡๏ธ bobby-hadz console.log(replaceAllDots('bobby.hadz', '-')); // ๐Ÿ‘‡๏ธ bobby!hadz console.log(replaceAllDots('bobby.hadz', '!'));

defining reusable function

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.
index.js
const str = 'a.b.c'; const withoutDots = str.split('.').join('_'); console.log(withoutDots); // ๐Ÿ‘‰๏ธ 'a_b_c'

replace all dots in string using string split

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

index.js
const str = 'a.b.c'; const withoutDots = str.split('.').join(''); console.log(withoutDots); // ๐Ÿ‘‰๏ธ 'abc'

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

index.js
const str = 'a.b.c'; const split = str.split('.'); console.log(split); // ๐Ÿ‘‰๏ธ ['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:

NameDescription
separatorThe pattern describing where each split should occur.
limitAn integer used to specify a limit on the number of substrings to be included in the array.

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.

index.js
function replaceAllDots(string, replacement) { return string.split('.').join(replacement); } // ๐Ÿ‘‡๏ธ bobby-hadz console.log(replaceAllDots('bobby.hadz', '-')); // ๐Ÿ‘‡๏ธ bobby!hadz console.log(replaceAllDots('bobby.hadz', '!'));

creating reusable function that uses split

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.

index.js
const str = 'a.b.c'; const withoutDots = str.replace(/\./g, '_'); console.log(withoutDots); // ๐Ÿ‘‰๏ธ 'a_b_c'

replace all dots in string using string replace

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

index.js
const str = 'a.b.c'; const withoutDots = str.replace(/\./g, ''); console.log(withoutDots); // ๐Ÿ‘‰๏ธ '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:

NameDescription
patternThe pattern to look for in the string. Can be a string or a regular expression.
replacementA string used to replace the substring match by the supplied pattern.

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.

index.js
function replaceAllDots(string, replacement) { return string.replace(/\./g, replacement); } // ๐Ÿ‘‡๏ธ bobby-hadz console.log(replaceAllDots('bobby.hadz', '-')); // ๐Ÿ‘‡๏ธ bobby!hadz console.log(replaceAllDots('bobby.hadz', '!'));

defining reusable function to replace all dots in string

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:

I wrote a book in which I share everything I know about how to become a better, more efficient programmer.
book cover
You can use the search field on my Home Page to filter through all of my articles.

Copyright ยฉ 2023 Borislav Hadzhiev