JavaScript RegExp \s Metacharacter


Example

A global search for whitespace characters:

let text = "Is this all there is?";
let pattern = /\s/g;
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Description

The \s metacharacter matches whitespace character.

Whitespace characters can be:

  • A space character
  • A tab character
  • A carriage return character
  • A new line character
  • A vertical tab character
  • A form feed character

Browser Support

/\s/ is an ECMAScript1 (ES1) feature.

ES1 (JavaScript 1997) is fully supported in all browsers:

Chrome Edge Firefox Safari Opera IE
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes


Syntax

new RegExp("\\s")

or simply:

/\s/

Syntax with modifiers

new RegExp("\\s", "g")

or simply:

/\s/g

Regular Expression Search Methods

In JavaScript, a regular expression text search, can be done with different methods.

With a pattern as a regular expression, these are the most common methods:

ExampleDescription
text.match(pattern)The String method match()
text.search(pattern)The String method search()
pattern.exec(text)The RexExp method exec()
pattern.test(text)The RegExp method test()

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