JavaScript Date setTime()
Syntax & Examples
Date.setTime() method
The setTime() method of the Date object in JavaScript sets the Date object to the time represented by a number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC. Use negative numbers for times prior.
Syntax of Date.setTime()
The syntax of Date.setTime() method is:
setTime(timeValue)
This setTime() method of Date sets the Date object to the time represented by a number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC. Use negative numbers for times prior.
Parameters
Parameter | Optional/Required | Description |
---|---|---|
|
Return Type
Date.setTime() returns value of type Number
.
✐ Examples
1 Using setTime() to set a specific time
In JavaScript, we can use the setTime()
method to set a Date object to a specific time represented by milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC.
For example,
- We create a new Date object
date
representing January 1, 2021. - We use the
setTime()
method to set the date to 86400000 milliseconds (1 day) after January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC. - The modified date is stored in the
date
object. - We log the modified
date
to the console usingconsole.log()
method.
JavaScript Program
const date = new Date('2021-01-01T00:00:00Z');
date.setTime(86400000);
console.log(date);
Output
1970-01-02T00:00:00.000Z
2 Using setTime() with the current date
In JavaScript, we can use the setTime()
method to set a Date object to the current time in milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC.
For example,
- We create a new Date object
now
representing the current date and time. - We use the
setTime()
method to set the date to the current time in milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC. - The modified date and time is stored in the
now
object. - We log the modified
now
to the console usingconsole.log()
method.
JavaScript Program
const now = new Date();
now.setTime(Date.now());
console.log(now);
Output
The output will vary based on the current date and time.
3 Using setTime() with a negative time value
In JavaScript, we can use the setTime()
method to set a Date object to a time before January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC by using a negative time value.
For example,
- We create a new Date object
pastDate
representing January 1, 2000. - We use the
setTime()
method to set the date to -86400000 milliseconds (1 day) before January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC. - The modified date is stored in the
pastDate
object. - We log the modified
pastDate
to the console usingconsole.log()
method.
JavaScript Program
const pastDate = new Date('2000-01-01T00:00:00Z');
pastDate.setTime(-86400000);
console.log(pastDate);
Output
1969-12-31T00:00:00.000Z
Summary
In this JavaScript tutorial, we learned about setTime() method of Date: the syntax and few working examples with output and detailed explanation for each example.