Split a String by Multiple Spaces in JavaScript

Split a String by Multiple Spaces in JavaScript #

To split a string by multiple spaces, call the split() method, passing it a regular expression, e.g. str.trim().split(/\s+/). The regular expression will split the string on one or more spaces and return an array containing the substrings.

Copied!
const str = '  banana    kiwi    mango  ';

const result = str.trim().split(/\s+/);
console.log(result); // 👉️ ['banana', 'kiwi', 'mango']

We called the String.trim method on the string to remove any leading or trailing spaces.

Copied!
console.log(' a  '.trim()); // 👉️ "a"

This helps us avoid the scenario where the array that the String.split method returns contains empty elements.

Copied!
const str = '  banana    kiwi    mango  ';

// ⛔️ without trim
// 👇️ ['', 'banana', 'kiwi', 'mango', '']
console.log(str.split(/\s+/));

The forward slashes / / mark the beginning and end of the regular expression.

The \s special character matches any whitespace (spaces, tabs or newlines).

If you ever need help reading a regular expression, check this regex cheatsheet from MDN out.

This approach would also work if you need to split the string on multiple whitespace characters.

Copied!
const str = '  banana \n \t   kiwi  \r\n  mango  ';

const result = str.trim().split(/\s+/);
console.log(result); // 👉️ ['banana', 'kiwi', 'mango']

The \s special characters matches any whitespace including spaces, tabs and newlines.