Check if String contains Whitespace in JavaScript

In this article, we will explore different methods to check if a string in JavaScript contains spaces.

Using the RegExp.test() Method

One way to check if a string contains spaces is to use the test() method of the RegExp object. The test() method will return true if the string contains at least one whitespace character and false otherwise.

function containsWhitespace(str) {  return /\s/.test(str);}console.log(containsWhitespace('  ')); // 👉️ trueconsole.log(containsWhitespace('free to reads com')); // 👉️ trueconsole.log(containsWhitespace('')); // 👉️ falseconsole.log(containsWhitespace('test')); // 👉️ false

The regular expression /\s/ checks for all types of whitespace characters, including spaces, tabs, and newline characters. The \s character is used to match spaces, tabs, and newlines.

function containsWhitespace(str) {  return /\s/.test(str);}console.log(containsWhitespace('hello\tworld')); // 👉️ trueconsole.log(containsWhitespace('hello\nworld')); // 👉️ true

Using the String.includes() Method

Another way to check if a string contains spaces is to use the includes() method of the String object. The includes() method will return true if the string contains whitespace and false otherwise.

function containsWhitespace(str) {  return str.includes(' ');}console.log(containsWhitespace('  ')); // 👉️ trueconsole.log(containsWhitespace('free to reads com')); // 👉️ trueconsole.log(containsWhitespace('')); // 👉️ falseconsole.log(containsWhitespace('test')); // 👉️ false

Note that the includes() method only checks for spaces, and it would return false if your string contains only tabs or newline characters.

function containsWhitespace(str) {  return str.includes(' ');}console.log(containsWhitespace('free to reads')); // 👉️ trueconsole.log(containsWhitespace('hello\tworld')); // 👉️ falseconsole.log(containsWhitespace('hello\nworld')); // 👉️ false

Using the String.match() Method

Another way to check if a string contains whitespace is to use the match() method of the String object. The match() method will return true if the string contains whitespace and false otherwise.

function containsWhitespace(str) {  return str.match(/\s/) !== null;}console.log(containsWhitespace('free to reads')); // 👉️ trueconsole.log(containsWhitespace('hello\tworld')); // 👉️ trueconsole.log(containsWhitespace('hello\nworld')); // 👉️ true

In this method, we use the match() method to check if the string contains whitespace by matching it with the regular expression /\s/. If a match is found, the method returns an array containing the match and we check if the array is not equal to null to determine if the string contains whitespace.

This method provides an alternative way to check for whitespace, using the same regular expressions that we used in the RegExp.test() method, but in this case we are using the match() method to check if it matches whitespaces, if it matches the method return an array containing the match, if not the method returns null

Conclusion on “Check if String contains Whitespace“

In this article, we have discussed different ways to check if a string in JavaScript contains spaces. The RegExp.test() method checks for all types of whitespace characters, the String.includes() method checks for only spaces, and the String.match() method checks for whitespace using regular expressions, and returns an array if match is found. Depending on your use case, you can choose the method that best suits your needs.