Skip to content

How to check if a string starts with another in JavaScript

Checking if a string starts with another substring is a common thing to do. See how to perform this check in JavaScript

ES6, introduced in 2015, added the startsWith() method to the String object prototype.

This is the way to perform this check in modern JavaScript

This means you can call startsWith() on any string, provide a substring, and check if the result returns true or false:

'testing'.startsWith('test') //true
'going on testing'.startsWith('test') //false

This method accepts a second parameter, which lets you specify at which character you want to start checking:

'testing'.startsWith('test', 2) //false
'going on testing'.startsWith('test', 9) //true
→ Get my JavaScript Beginner's Handbook

I wrote 17 books to help you become a better developer, download them all at $0 cost by joining my newsletter

  • C Handbook
  • Command Line Handbook
  • CSS Handbook
  • Express Handbook
  • Git Cheat Sheet
  • Go Handbook
  • HTML Handbook
  • JS Handbook
  • Laravel Handbook
  • Next.js Handbook
  • Node.js Handbook
  • PHP Handbook
  • Python Handbook
  • React Handbook
  • SQL Handbook
  • Svelte Handbook
  • Swift Handbook

JOIN MY CODING BOOTCAMP, an amazing cohort course that will be a huge step up in your coding career - covering React, Next.js - next edition February 2025

Bootcamp 2025

Join the waiting list