How to fix TypeError: split is not a function in JavaScript

One error you might encounter when running JavaScript code is:

TypeError: split is not a function

This error occurs when you call the split() method from a value that’s not of string type.

Let me show you an example that causes the TypeError: split is not a function error and an easy way to fix it.

How to reproduce this error

Suppose you want to split a string into an array. You called the split() method from a variable as follows:

const today = new Date();

const dateArray = today.split(" ");

When you run the code above, you get this error:

TypeError: today.split is not a function

This is because the split() method is called from a Date object, which is created using the new Date() construct.

The split() method is not available in a Date object, so JavaScript responded with split is not a function error.

How to fix this error

To resolve this error, you need to convert the non-string object into a string first using the toString() method.

Here’s an example fix:

const today = new Date();

const dateArray = today.toString().split(" ");

console.log(dateArray); // [ Thu', Jul', '20', ...]

The same solution works with other JavaScript objects. In another example, suppose you want to create an array from the Document location object:

const loc = document.location;

const locArr = loc.toString().split("/");

console.log(locArr); // ['https:', '', 'sebhastian.com', ...]

The toString() method allows you to convert an object into a string representing the object’s value.

Alternatively, you can also call the split() method only from a string by using the typeof operator:

const today = new Date();

if (typeof today === "string") {
  const dateArray = today.toString().split(" ");
  console.log(dateArray); // [ Thu', Jul', '20', ...]
} else {
  console.log("Not a string object");
}

Or you can also check the type using the ternary operator as follows:

const today = new Date();

const result = typeof today === 'string' ? today.split('/') : "";

console.log(result);

Here, the split() method is only called when the typeof the variable is a string. Otherwise, an empty string is returned. You can use the solution that gives the desired result.

I hope this tutorial helps. Happy coding! 🙌