How to get yesterday's date using JavaScript

How do you get yesterdays' date using JavaScript?

Well, first you get the date at the current time (today), then you subtract a day from it:

const today = new Date()
const yesterday = new Date(today)

yesterday.setDate(yesterday.getDate() - 1)

today.toDateString()
yesterday.toDateString()

We use the setDate() method on yesterday, passing as parameter the current day minus one.

Even if it’s day 1 of the month, JavaScript is logical enough and it will point to the last day of the previous month.

Written on Oct 10, 2019

→ Get my JavaScript Beginner's Handbook

I wrote 21 books to help you become a better developer:

HTML Handbook
Next.js Pages Router Handbook
Alpine.js Handbook
HTMX Handbook
TypeScript Handbook
React Handbook
SQL Handbook
Git Cheat Sheet
Laravel Handbook
Express Handbook
Swift Handbook
Go Handbook
PHP Handbook
Python Handbook
Linux Commands Handbook
C Handbook
JavaScript Handbook
Svelte Handbook
CSS Handbook
Node.js Handbook
Vue Handbook

...download them all now!

Also, 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