How to convert a String to Enum in TypeScript

# Convert a String to Enum in TypeScript

To convert a string to an enum:

Use keyof typeof to cast the string to the type of the enum.
Use bracket notation to access the corresponding value of the string in the enum.

index.tsx

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enum EmailStatus {
  Read,
  Unread,
  Draft,
}

// 👇️ String to enum
const str: keyof typeof EmailStatus = 'Read';
console.log(EmailStatus[str]); // 👉️ 0

const enumToStr = EmailStatus[EmailStatus.Read];
console.log(enumToStr); // 👉️ "Read"

convert string to enum in typescript

The code for this article is available on GitHub

Using keyof typeof allows us to get a type that represents all Enum keys as strings.

index.tsx

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enum EmailStatus {
  Read,
  Unread,
  Draft,
}

// 👇️ type T = "Read" | "Unread" | "Draft"
type T = keyof typeof EmailStatus;

If we set the type of the string to one of the possible types of the enum, we would get an error if there is a mismatch.

index.tsx

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enum EmailStatus {
  Read,
  Unread,
  Draft,
}

// ⛔️ Error: Type "Test" is not assignable to type "Read" | "Unread" | "Draft"
const str: keyof typeof EmailStatus = 'Test';
console.log(EmailStatus[str]); // 👉️ undefined

You can access the value that corresponds to the string in the enum by using bracket notation.

index.tsx

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enum EmailStatus {
  Read,
  Unread,
  Draft,
}

const str: keyof typeof EmailStatus = 'Read';
console.log(EmailStatus[str]); // 👉️ 0

# Convert a String to Enum using a type assertion

An alternative approach is to assert that the variable that stores the string has a type of Enum.

index.tsx

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enum EmailStatus {
  Read,
  Unread,
  Draft,
}

const str = 'Read';
const strEnum = str as unknown as EmailStatus;

console.log(EmailStatus[strEnum]); // 👉️ 0

convert string to enum using type assertion

The code for this article is available on GitHub

We used a type assertion to specify that the str variable stores a value that has a type of EmailStatus.

This approach is not as clean as using keyof typeof and should be avoided when possible because it doesn't defend against incorrect values.

You could cast any string to have a value of EmailStatus without getting an error.

index.tsx

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enum EmailStatus {
  Read,
  Unread,
  Draft,
}

const str = 'Test';
const strEnum = str as unknown as EmailStatus;

console.log(EmailStatus[strEnum]); // 👉️ undefined

can cast any string to have value of email status

The code for this article is available on GitHub

This is not the case when using keyof typeof.

index.tsx

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enum EmailStatus {
  Read,
  Unread,
  Draft,
}

// ⛔️ Error: Type "Test" is not assignable to type "Read" | "Unread" | "Draft"
const str: keyof typeof EmailStatus = 'Test';

TypeScript is smart enough to notice that Test is not one of the keys in the enum and shows an error when a typo is made.

I've also written an article on how to convert an enum to a string.

If you need to check if a value exists in an enum, click on the following article.

# Additional Resources

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How to convert a String to Enum in TypeScript

# Convert a String to Enum in TypeScript

# Convert a String to Enum using a type assertion

# Additional Resources

Borislav Hadzhiev