JavaScript RegExp \W meta-character

Definition and usage

\W Meta-character matches non-word characters:

Word characters are characters a-z, A-Z, 0-9, including _ (underscore).

Instance

Global search for non-word characters:

let text = "Give 100%!";
let pattern = /\W/g;

Try it yourself

Syntax

new RegExp("\\W")

Or abbreviated as:

/\W/

Syntax with modifiers

new RegExp("\\W", "g")

Or abbreviated as:

/\W/g

Browser support

/\W/ It is an ECMAScript1 (ES1) feature.

All browsers fully support ES1 (JavaScript 1997):

Chrome IE Edge Firefox Safari Opera
Supports Supports Supports Supports Supports Supports

Regular expression search methods

In JavaScript, regular expression text search can be completed with different methods.

UsagePattern (pattern)As regular expressions, these are the most commonly used methods:

Example Description
text.match(pattern) String method match()
text.search(pattern) String method search()
pattern.exec(text) RexExp method exec()
pattern.test(text) RexExp Method test()