How to Escape a String in JavaScript?

We will understand how to escape a string in JavaScript in this article.

What is a string?

A string is a JavaScript data type that is utilized to store symbols, letters or numbers. A text-based data is stored in string data type and defined utilizing single quotes or double quotes.

What is a string escaping?

String escaping is a method that is utilized to consider the special character as a literal character. It is utilized to include a special character by escaping a string.

Let us see the need for string escaping with the help of an illustration.

The following is the string which shows an error:

Output:

 
SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier   

This error arises because we have used double quotes two times, which is not supported in JavaScript. We can escape characters in JavaScript to fix the error.

The following are the methods used to escape a string:

• Escape character
• Opposite string syntax
• Template literals

We will learn each method with the help of demonstrations.

Utilizing the Escape Character (\)

The backslash specifies that the next character must act as a literal character instead of a special character so we can escape a string utilizing the backslash (\) character.

When a backslash is followed by a certain character then it becomes an escape sequence such as the following:

\\ - Backslash

\" - Double Quotes

\' - Single Quotes

\n - Newline

\t - Tab

\t - Carriage return

Demo 1:

We will declare a string named "apostrophe" which consists of single quotes and an apostrophe in a single sentence. We will utilize the escape sequence (\') to escape a string.

Code:

Output:

We can witness that the string is escaped utilizing the escape sequence (\').

 
It's a rainy day.   

Demo 2:

We will declare a string named "quote" which consists of double quotes two times in a single sentence. We will utilize the escape sequence (\") to treat the special character as a literal character.

Code:

Output:

We can witness that the string is escaped utilizing the escape sequence (\").

 
She said, "I like mathematics!"   

Demo 3:

We will utilize the escape sequence (\n) to come to the next line and escape a string.

Code:

Output:

We can witness that the string is escaped utilizing the escape sequence (\n).

 
It is line 1. 
It is line 2.   

Demo 4:

We will utilize escape sequence (\t) to give a tab space in the sentence.

Code:

Output:

We can witness that the string is escaped utilizing the escape sequence (\t).

 
Hi, 	 How are you?   

Utilizing the Opposite String Syntax

We can utilize opposite string syntax to escape a string. We can use single quotes or double quotes to escape a string.

Demo 1:

We are going to wrap the string in double quotes which contain the single quotes and escape a string.

Code:

Output:

We can witness that the string has been escaped utilizing the single quotes to wrap the string containing the double quotes.

 
He said, "I learned from JTP!"   

Demo 2:

We will put the string in double quotes which contain an apostrophe to escape a string.

Code:

Output:

We can witness that the string has been escaped utilizing the double quotes to wrap the string containing the apostrophe.

Output:

 
It is a wonderful day, isn't it?   

Utilizing the Template Literals (Backticks)

We can utilize template literals, i.e., backticks (` `), to escape a string.

Demo 1:

We are going to wrap the string in backticks which contains double quotes inside a string and escape the string.

Code:

Output:

We can witness that the string has been escaped utilizing the backticks to wrap the string containing the double quotes.

 
He said, "I am here to teach you JavaScript!"   

Demo 2:

We will use an apostrophe in the string and wrap the string in backticks to escape the string.

Code:

Output:

We can witness that the string has been escaped utilizing the backticks to wrap the string containing the apostrophe.

 
It's a beautiful necklace.   

Conclusion:

We have understood how to escape a string in JavaScript in this article. There are three ways that we can utilize to escape a string such as escape character, opposite string syntax and template literals. We have comprehended each method with the help of demonstrations and now we can utilize them when required.